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https://archive.org/details/churchyearstudieOOstro 


THE CHURCH YEAR 


Studies in the Introits, Collects, 


Epistles and Gospels 


By 
PAUL ZELLER STRODACH 






JUN 12 1998 





A es 
\“EoLogican SEM 


PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
THE UNITED LUTHERAN PUBLICATION HOUSE 


Copyricut, 1924; By 
THE Boarp oF PUBLICATION OF 
THE UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 





MaDE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


FOREWORD 


A few years since, the Editor of The Lutheran 
requested the writer to prepare a brief article for 
weekly publication in that journal, in which facts 
of interest in the historic development of the Chris- 
tian Year were to be noted: something of the nature 
of popular comments on the Church Calendar. As 
this series developed, two things became very evi- 
dent: that the articles could not be confined to the 
original brief compass, and that other features of 
interest had to be included. Further, the interest in 
these Calendar Notes and the encouragement of the 
Editor led to a much wider and fuller treatment as 
the Year advanced; the article grew from a para- 
graph to a column, even longer. The result at the 
end of the year was a series of studies very uneven 
and unlike in treatment and length. 

At all events, an opportunity had been afforded, 
and very gratefully employed, to work over and re- 
write material which had been gathered from many 
sources, and notes which had been made in the 
yearly study of the Propers—a study to which each 
year’s recurrent use brought a fresh interest: for 
a new angle, or new interrelation, or new applica- 
tion would appear. Then, too, an interest in things 
liturgical and a reading of the ancient commentators 
on the Worship of the Church aided the gathering 
of notes, historical and interpretive, from sources 
seldom disturbed. To one thus interested and study- 
ing the Propers in the background of their origin 
and gradual assembling into the Use of the Church, 
there could not help but be borne the conviction of 
the orderliness and harmony of their choice and the 

3 


4 FOREWORD 


definite contribution they make to the structure of 
Worship into which they had been built. 

A number of years have passed since the first 
studies appeared in The Lutheran. The interest 
in them expressed in a desire to have them in more 
permanent form led to a rewriting of the entire 
series. The major portion of these studies is en- 
tirely new. 

An opportunity to show the harmony, the real 
beauty, the spiritual chording of the varying ele- 
ments of each Proper combining to declare the 
Teaching of the Day, contributing to the glorious 
harmony of the Worship of the Church, is a rich 
privilege; and this effort to grasp this opportunity 
is humbly dedicated 


TO THE GLORY OF GOD 
AND 
A DEVOUTLY APPRECIATIVE USE OF THE 
LITURGY 
IN HIS WORSHIP. 


CONTENTS 


FOREWORD ...... et et cept pay a ie pa eertaes Patt Ailey A a Bh Mt dr 
tert Ree Co URC HY BAR een tatictserestcesessetett ere cameecasceas ssentaonavccosen stat 
HEV CHURCH WY FARING W ORSHIPS: cosssecccsssecccestcncscccsessteceoosace 
PAD VEIN Tigeetec seco turttcne cere: case Dhicesattececeseratestrecheaterscterstuatinereleiccers seks 
FLEE VEIRSTESUNDAYSINUADVEN Ten cisccasticsiscccercarsiresscaebesseeens 


THE SECOND CHRISTMAS DAY...........ccccccccsccceseeees Ap Aaya 
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAG..........c000 ss opepierilltaps 
THE CIRCUMCISION AND THE NAME OF JESUS.........scccccsseee 
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAG..........ccssssssssessesees 
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD...............000 feb peb aia aca AL, 
THE First SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.............scccecee 
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY..........cccccc00 
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY. ........cccsscossoesess 
THE FouRTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY.........c.ccsceeeee 
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY Site Neuen epee eal 
THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD.........sccccsssssesssssreceess 
SEPTUAGESIMA |: ciscsseconscctasares fee bites py CA OO A eae Ball edd a ON 
CA GISINUA Metric serse re iatee stone rete ir caece reel teri eens cre vebecratees 
DYITINGUAGESIM Ae crecsrtacecipecoetondeseseersss onven cose cermacects wiach Sanden taueuss 
ASH WEDNESDAY. THE FIRST DAY OF LENT..............00000 
INVOCAVIT. THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.............css0000000 
REMINISCERE. THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT...........0000 
OcuLI THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT..........ccccccssscccsssscscces 
LAETARE. THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT...........cccccsseesees 
TUDICA HE CASSION SES UNDAY cat scloctcc cetosrictscoensteetoan stoned 
CERO ES Ee NYYB O12 ain NR aL alr gu a ag Ub hppa RUlaE pa OAR RN ef, 
MOAT MARU M Bers cere rested resect cookie cates tetetaoci ce see cecctbreses cestinercraaencce ster 
MONDAY TING HOLY a VV BER Secesccaccetesecectepesstesece Pale SAA te Mbit a 
TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEE............ mat Sea teased Sb Maal ih ote 
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEE............ Magra nelle olay Joy Save ule 
THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK.............000 aalaceesstuerueseanteretelecccectes 
5 


6 CONTENTS 


PAGE 
GOOD RIDA Y: Gilde cccesaceleccatectesschecces sesaiiscivesetsonetans teat een an eet ae 144 
SATURDAY. “IN (HOLY )\W EEK Getcinvccsscccacsetectivestecsevescdecsot orient 147 
EASTER DAy. THE RESURRECTION OF OUR LORD.............. 149 
MONDAY, VAPTER WASTER cei crieteccttsterssccrttreaeturereestine ae 153 


Quas!I Mopo GENITI. THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER... 154 
MISERICORDIAS DOMINI. THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER 


FOASTER Aiei is lestetcccreveckce cette seer renee ai Ceecetsectene areata ees 157 
JUBILATE. THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER..........00006 160 
CANTATE. THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER............ 163 
ROGATE. THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EAASTER.........ccccccssees 166 
THE “ASCENSION | OFY OURTLIORDicceccccetstorsessccccesessotrercetiedsrscree 169 
EXAUDI. THE SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION.........00seseee 172 
THE FESTIVAL OF PENTECOST. WHITSUNDAY.....ccccccccsssesse 174 
THE MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK........ccccsssccscccccccceeescsessceees 177 
THE FESTIVAL OF THE HOLY TRINITY........cccccccssscscsscccccsees 179 
THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........ccccccsssssssssoscscceseces 182 
THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........0.scccccscecscsssscsees 186 
THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........cccccccsssscccsccosecccees 189 
THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........ccccccccssccccsccsesees 192 
THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........cccccccccsssscsesscssscees 195 
THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......ccccccoccssscssssscccecsesees 198 
THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......ccccccccccscccscscceees 201 
THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY..........ccccccssccccccssseeees 203 
THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........cccccccssccccccsscssseses 205 
THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY..........cccccccsscssccccssscsees 208 
THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY  ........ccccccccsccecees 211 
THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY......ccccccccssssssscsscccs 215 
THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........cccccscccccscees 219 
THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......cccccssscsssees 223 
THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......ccccscccssscecees 226 
THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........cccccccssssssssces 230 
THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY......cccccccscccece 233 
THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY....ccccccccsssssssees 236 
THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......ccccccccccecces 239 
THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........cccccccscsseeee 242 
THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY......ccccccoccsscse 246 
THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.......cccccsees 249 
THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........ccccccsccee 253 
THE TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.........cccc000 256 


THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 
THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY........ccccccccccsscccccccssecccece 263 


THE CHURCH YEAR 


In the course of these nineteen centuries an 
atmosphere has been created in which the Church 
uniquely expresses her life. This is her annual 
round of Days, Feasts, Fasts and Seasons, in which 
certain outstanding facts have found expression 
and other experiences have borne fruit. This de- 
veloped into an annual commemorative cycle of 
observances, historic and dogmatic in character, 
and has borne the name, The Church Year, for cen- 
turies, since it has always been distinguished from 
the common or civil year and is, strictly speaking, 
the Church’s method of marking the passing of time. 
She has not ignored the common year, but on the 
other hand has depended upon that for the definite 
dating of certain central Days; but these once dated, 
her method of reckoning is uniquely her own. 

In this she lives, always conscious of her past; 
perpetuating the Life of her Founder in all the 
actuality of the present; her history in witness- 
bearer and witnessing; re-living it all as though it 
were a wholly new experience, for the testimony 
this may bear to the world and the inspiration it 
will be to her children. In this she witnesses and 
worships, because it fully, harmoniously and elo- 
quently expresses her life. 

The Church Year, as we know it now, complete, 
purposeful and logically harmonious, is not the 
product of any one age of the Church’s life. It has 
been a gradual development from rather small be- 
ginings; but it came into being in a most natural 
way. 

The Early Church centered her life in a weekly 
commemoration of her Lord’s Resurrection on the 

7 


8 THE CHURCH YEAR 


day that even in the New Testament is called The 
Lord’s Day—upon this day they met for what we 
now speak of as the Services, very simple in form, 
we may be sure, at first, and for the celebration of 
the Holy Supper. Very soon we find that the 
Friday of each week is observed likewise in com- 
memoration of the Death on the Cross. It was most 
natural that a weekly round should find place in 
the young Church for that had formed the basis of 
religious observance in the Jewish Church out of 
which many of them had come; and it also was 
most natural that she should mark certain days 
uniquely connected with her experience. The spirit 
of this is to perpetuate the Events in honor of her 
Lord and their effect on life and worship. 


From a weekly observance to a yearly was a 
simple step. In exactly the same way as there are 
certain days in a family’s life that are annually 
remembered because of some particular event—such 
as a birthday or wedding day, a death or some un- 
usual occurrence, so as the year passed, this event 
in her Lord’s life or that occasion in the Church’s 
experience would be recalled: On such a day our 
Lord was crucified, on such a day our Lord arose; 
on such a day the Spirit descended; and remem- 
brance would find expression in the Church, in her 
Services and in her homes. Add to this another 
group: The Church very soon experienced the test- 
ing of persecution. Every locality had its own 
group of faithful witness-bearers, martyrs; in some 
there would have been very close association with 
an Apostle or his immediate successor—most of 
these suffered martyrdom. So in addition to the 
commemoration of what may be spoken cf as the 
Major Events, the days of the martyrdom of the 
faithful of that locality or province would be grate- 
fully and joyfully remembered. Out of these at 


THE CHURCH YEAR 9 


first purely local celebrations naturally grew the 
wider as the repute of the individual Saint would 
for one or another exemplary reason be dissemi- 
nated in the Church at large. 

As the commemoration of our Lord’s Resurrec- 
tion first appeared in the Church’s life in her 
weekly round, so it appears with the other days 
immediately associated with it historically as the 
first of the annual observances. With it, as a ter- 
minus, and because of its place in the Church’s his- 
tory, Pentecost is almost immediately associated. 
This is the earliest of the Festival observances, and 
from this as a nucleus, with local commemoration of 
Apostles and Martyrs added, the Church Year makes 
its beginning. 

It is not our purpose to trace an historical and 
detailed development of the Church Year at this 
point; we reserve that for the notes of the various 
Days and Seasons as they will be met in the course 
of the year. The addition of one or another of the 
Great Festivals is only with the passing centuries; 
at times as the result of a deliberate effort on the 
part of Church authority to establish the use, at 
others almost spontaneously. The former is the 
case with the commemoration of the Nativity, to 
which is just as deliberately added the season of 
preparation, Advent. As one approaches the Middle 
Ages and notes the large addition of Days some of 
major, most of minor, importance, one is struck 
by the fact that now the Church Year is being de- 
veloped in a studied way with a definite end in view; 
and its emerges from that period with every day 
in the year occupied with some observance either 
Feast or Fast. 

The result of this was a very cumbersome and 
overcrowded year demanding rules for observance 
which were far from simple. It well nigh destroyed 


10 THE CHURCH YEAR 


through artificial manipulation, the original pure 
motive which brought it into being, and left the 
Church’s life enslaved to the formal observance of 
fasts and feasts. It is in this period that claim 
is made for the first time that a definite purpose 
underlies the Church Year, that its arrangement is 
logical and harmonious, that it now is a symme- 
trical whole! The commentators on the Mass, etc., 
of that and the immediately succeeding period— 
and there is quite a good sized group—all have opin- 
ions on this subject and seek very painstakingly to 
prove what to them appears to be a self-evident 
proposition. In some cases the comments are of 
much historical value and extremely interesting; 
but in others one is lost in the mazes of mystical 
interpretations with their artificial twists and 
turns and arrives at no satisfactory, not to say 
historical, conclusion. The overcrowding is due to 
the introduction of an ever increasing group of 
Days in honor of the Blessed Virgin, in honor of 
the Holy Cross, of a great host of Saints, Martyrs, 
Confessors, Virgins, etc., each with an author- 
ized date of commemoration. Naturally the multi- 
plicity of these days brought about confusion, due 
to the concurrence of a number of commemorations 
on the same day; and this was not helped very much 
by the many carefully determined rules for the 
remedying of such concurrences. The Church Year 
had become nothing more than a big, cumbersome 
machine and its observance wholly mechanical. 
This is the situation at the time of the Reforma- 
tion; and here, too, the spirit of the Reformation 
made itself felt. As the worship of the Church was 
cleansed and restored to its ancient beauty and 
spiritual purpose, so the year. This structure re- 
turns to the form it had before the days of deliber- 
ate manipulation; it is cleansed of a great host of 


THE CHURCH YEAR 11 


Days which only served to throw shadow and not 
to give light. The principal that only such should 
be retained as are immediately centered in Christ 
or immediately connected with Him or serve to His 
praise entirely, governed the retention of a compara- 
tively small group of so-called ‘““Minor Festivals” or 
Saint’s Days, even though others had become deeply 
rooted in the spiritual life of the masses. The pur- 
pose of the year was to foster devotion, to give ex- 
pression to the Church’s worship; to serve to instruct, 
not to govern or enslave. It must be Christo- 
centric, as much when it recalls His Birth or Resur- 
rection, as when the Church is born, or one of His 
followers seals his faith with his blood. It is to be 
not only the Church’s Year but her Lord’s Year. 
Considered in this light, the Church Year has a 
definite purpose in view and is logical and harmoni- 
ous in structure. 


THE CHURCH YEAR IN WORSHIP 


THE PROPERS 


The formal worship of the Church is centered in 
The Liturgy. It also finds expression in other serv- 
ices: Matins and Vespers and the Occasional Offices. 
But the atmosphere or setting of this worship is 
the Church Year. In The Liturgy or The Holy 
Communion, and in Matins and Vespers, there is 
a fixed structure made up of unvarying and vari- 
able parts. Some of these latter will vary with 
every Sunday or Festival, others will vary only 
with the Season. In the former group will be the 
Introits, Collects, Epistles, Graduals, Gospels of 
The Liturgy; the Psalms, Lections and Collects of 
the other Services: in the latter will be the Season 
Sentences, Proper Prefaces, of The Liturgy, and the 
Invitatories, Responsories and Canticles of the other 
Services. These variable parts are known as 
Propria—Propers, that is, the parts that are the 
proper Use for such a Day or Season :—thus the 
Propers for Advent Sunday will be the Introit, 
Collect, Epistle, Gradual and Gospel, appointed for 
use on that Day. Thus the influence of the Church 
Year is felt in the Propers. 

How did certain portions of Holy Scripture come 
to be so appointed? Where did we get the Introits, 
the Graduals, the Collects? Just here is the point 
of contact between the Church’s worship and the 
Church’s Year. That “Reading of the Scriptures” 
was a definite part of the worship of the Early 
Church more than one reference in the New Testa- 
ment testifies; but the Scriptures read were the 
ancient “Law and Prophets.” It was not until the 

12 


THE CHURCH YEAR IN WORSHIP 13 


third decade, at least, after our Lord’s Resurrection 
that the first of our New Testament writings came 
into existence; but we may be certain that with the 
spread of St. Paul’s Epistles their use in the wor- 
ship of the Church would find a very natural place. 
Direct narrative took the place of a reading of the 
Gospel until this had been committed to writing by 
the Evangelists, and in the course of time after very 
laborious copying became the treasured possession 
of the Churches. 


GOSPELS AND EPISTLES 


One could not very well imagine a service, say, 
on the Day of the Resurrection, or the Day of the 
Crucifixion, without the reading of the historic nar- 
rative. Such portions of Scripture would be used 
because of natural association and would thus be- 
come The Gospel for the Day, a technical name that 
has been in use for many, many centuries. As the 
years passed and the worship of the Church took 
more and more the form that early and historic 
examples reveal, and the observance of certain 
Events formed into a yearly round, there would be 
a very definite schedule of portions of Scripture 
coming into use quite simply. That a Lesson from 
the Epistles was associated with a Reading from 
the Gospel, in very early times, is abundantly wit- 
nessed; but this reading was not confined to a short 
passage, it usually embraced a number of sections, 
(for “chapters” were not known in those days) and 
in some cases entire Epistles. Gradually certain 
passages from these Epistolary writings would be 
associated with certain sections of the Gospel, and 
thus be used. Herein is the germ of the system of 
Lections or Pericopes now the Use of the Church. 
But such a series or system of Lessons cannot be 
expected to exist before the time when at least the 


14 THE CHURCH YEAR 


major Festivals of the Church Year and their sea- 
sons have come into use. Quite definite testimony 
carries us pretty far back and names Jerome as the 
one who prepared the Lectionary of the Roman 
Church. This was done at the request of Damasus, 
Bishop of Rome, 366-384, a period worthy of re- 
membrance, as it is also claimed that some of our 
Collects come from these early years! The title 
which Jerome gave to his book was Comes, mean- 
ing, “companion,” but more exactly “‘the book that 
instructs in what is to be read,” for the book con- 
tains a full complement of Epistles and Gospels. 
This is the beginning of the Roman Lectionary and 
that of the Church of the Reformation is in direct 
line of descent. If the “‘preface’” or comment ac- 
companying the Comes is genuine we would not 
need to look any farther for substantiation of the 
claim that there is a definite purpose in the choice 
of the Lessons; that there is a “rational reason” 
for their choice as well. 


SERVICE BOOKS 


In this early period—and for centuries there- 
after—“books” were manuscripts, and as such both 
expensive, and, in many cases, very bulky. Such a 
book as an entire Bible, as we know it, would have 
been a volume so large that it could not have been 
handled except with great difficulty. For this rea- 
son, and also many times because of the expense 
involved in the copying, the Scriptures in the 
Church would be only those portions of Holy Scrip- 
ture forming the Lessons to be read in the Services; 
usually the H’pistles would be in one volume and 
this was called the E'pistolarium; and the Gospels 
in another, this being called the Evangelistarium. 
When The Liturgy and its Prayers were committed 
to writing this formed a third volume, called the 


THE CHURCH YEAR IN WORSHIP 15 


Liber Sacramentorum or Sacramentary. In course 
of time a fourth volume is added which contains the 
Introits, Graduals, Antiphons, etc.; this is called 
the Antiphonarium. With the invention of printing 
the four were combined into one and called the 
Missale. The Missale Romanum or Roman Missal 
or Mass Book—for the celebration of Holy Com- 
munion was known as “The Mass” (and still is 
in some Lutheran Countries even to this day)—was 
the book in use at the time of the Reformation and 
therefore the Service Book in which the Reformers 
were at home. It is this Use which they purified 
with devout hand; and thus cleansed, it continued 
in the Services of the Church of the Reformation. 
It is this Liturgy and its Propers, the purified Serv- 
ices, the restored Services, that is the Common 
Service Book of the Church in America. 


THE INTROIT 


The Introit is not as ancient as some other por- 
tions of the Liturgy. It formed the real beginning 
of the Mass. There is an old tradition that one of 
the Bishops of Rome, Ceelestin I (died 432), ordered 
the singing of the 150 Psalms at the beginning of 
the Liturgy. This was to be done antiphonally, that 
is, between the congregation divided into two 
groups, or between two choirs. Just what the 
original use was is not quite certain. In the early 
days the faithful would meet at a certain central 
church and move in procession to the church where 
the special commemoration of the Day was to be 
made. Psalms would be sung on the way and as the 
congregation entered the church the Introit Psalm 
(introire, to go in) would be sung; and as it was 
being concluded and the Gloria Patri was being 
sung, the Celebrant and his attendants would enter 
the Sanctuary. With the discontinuance of the 


16 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Processions, the Liturgy would begin with the sing- 
ing of the Introit, by the choir, and at its conclu- 
sion the Ministrants would enter. One can readily 
see how this use of an entire Psalm would in course 
of time be abbreviated; and as the “office” of the 
Introit was to announce the particular Event cele- 
brated or to strike the Tone of the Day’s Service, 
it was to be expected that just such portions would 
survive as would serve this purpose. The one verse 
marked Psalm in the present Introits is the rem- 
nant of the use of the entire Psalm and indicates 
which one was appointed for the Day. The preced- 
ing verses are called the Antiphon. 

The nature of the Introit requires that it be sung 
by the choir. It is the herald’s voice, the announce- 
ment of the great theme of the Day’s worship; it is 
a call to worship, whether adoration or thanksgiving 
or confession; it strikes the keynote. As such it 
harmonizes with the other Propers and yet contrib- 
utes a part uniquely its own, to the Day’s worship 
and teaching. 


THE COLLECT 


The Collects have come to us from the rich treas- 
ury of the Church’s devotion; the youngest of them 
are as old as the Reformation and not a few of them 
have been in use for over fourteen hundred years. 
With but a very, very few exceptions, we do not 
know who wrote them. Some of them are found 
in the oldest Roman Sacramentary, that which 
carries the name of Leo the Great (440-461) ; others 
are first found in the Sacramentary of Gelasius, 
who was Bishop of Rome, 492-496; while others 
come from the Gregorian Sacramentary (Gregory 
the Great, 590-604) ; a few are found for the first 
time in one or another of the Kirchen Ordnungen 
—Church Orders—of the Reformation Period. 


THE CHURCH YEAR IN WORSHIP 17 


The Collect is a short prayer, very exact and defi- 
nite in structure. It is peculiar to the Western 
Church and seems to have been wholly her “inven- 
tion.” There are two “Collect” models in the Acts 
of the Apostles, and one or two prayers of St. Paul 
in his Epistles which carry a somewhat related 
structure; but the prayers of the Church of the 
Orient are lengthy and in many cases verbose, and 
although not lacking in great beauty, are an entirely 
different type. 

The word Collect has been variously interpreted. 
The first meaning attached to it grows out of the 
gathering of the faithful for the procession to the 
Stational Church, and the prayer said before the 
procession was started was called the ‘‘Collect”’ be- 
cause the coming together was known as the col- 
lecta—(colligere: to gather together). Another 
meaning is that it collects or gathers the meaning, 
the central teaching, of the E’'pistle and Gospel, and 
makes that the ground of the petition. Still another 
is that the ministrant gathers all of the petitions 
of the people together in this little concise prayer, 
and presents it as theirs and his before the Throne 
of Grace. 


The structure of the Collect is definite and exact. 
It consists of but one sentence, usually short; it 
offers only one petition; it always pleads the medi- 
ation of our Lord (except in the rare cases when 
addressed to Him); and concludes with an ascrip- 
tion of praise, a “doxology,” to the Blessed Trinity. 
The normal Collect has five parts: The address to 
God; the ground upon which the prayer is made; 
the petition; the benefit hoped for as a result; and 
the mediation and ascription. All in one sentence! 

It is the prayer of the Liturgy because of its close 
connection with the celebration of the Day and with 
the other Propers. Ofttimes it will recite the His- 


18 THE CHURCH YEAR 


toric Fact of the Day’s commemoration as the 
ground of the petition; at others it will fuse to- 
gether the very centers of both E’pistle and Gospel 
in such a truly marvelous and glorious way that one 
is enraptured with its spiritual beauty. The repeti- 
tion of the Collect of the Day at all the Services of 
the Day—Matins and Vespers—and throughout the 
ensuing week, serves to perpetuate the teaching as 
well as contact with the week’s commemoration. 

Other Collects found a place in the Liturgy; the 
remnant of this use remains in our Postcommunion 
Collect. This is now invariable, but in the pre- 
Reformation times, as well as in the present Roman 
Missal, this prayer varied with the Day. While 
some of these Postcommunions were of great 
beauty, many of them contained expressions con- 
trary to pure doctrine; others merely repeated the 
petition of the Collect of the Day in other words; 
and doubtless for these reasons they were not con- 
tinued in the Church’s Use. 


THE GRADUAL 


The Gradual and Hallelujah perpetuate a very 
ancient custom. Psalms were sung between the 
Lessons by specially appointed servers. Then these, 
like the Introits, were abbreviated. The name 
Gradual comes from gradus, step. The Lessons were 
read from an Ambon or elevated Reading Desk, and 
these verses were sung elther while the reader was 
on the step, coming down to make way for the next 
reader who would read the Gospel, or they were 
sung by the cantor from the step of the Ambon. 


THE HALLELUJAH 


The Hallelujah is an inheritance from the Jewish 
Church, and is a full outburst of praise. It is found 


THE CHURCH YEAR IN WORSHIP 19 


in use in the very earliest period of the Church. 
It is employed as climax to the praise of the Gradual 
and as an outburst preparatory to the Gospel next 
to be read. 

During Lent the character of this anthem is en- 
tirely changed. The Hallelujah disappears, for now 
the time is strictly penitential: longer, drawn 
out, passages breathing the spirit of penitence and 
mourning appear. This is best known as the Tract. 
Whether Gradual or Tract, their function is to knit 
the two Liturgical Lections together, and thus con- 
tribute to the harmony of the Worship. 

From these Propers, the Teaching of the Day in 
the harmonious and purposeful structure of the 
Church Year is to be drawn. 


j 


i 
te 


eu ies) 





STUDIES 


of the Introits, Collects, 
Epistles and Gospels of 


THE CHURCH YEAR 


With Historical Annotations on 
the Seasons and Days 


ADVENT 


In the arrangement of the Church Year the 
Great Festivals are provided with a series of days 
which precedes and follows them, and acts as a 
season of preparation for, and application of, the 
central teaching of the Festival. 

In this manner Christmas is preceded by the 
Advent Season and followed by the Twelve Days 
culminating in the Festival of the Epiphany and 
the Epiphany Season. 

Naturally this arrangement is not particularly 
ancient in all cases, since the Church Year as we 
now have it in its harmonious entirety is a develop- 
ment through many centuries. 

The Feast of our Lord’s Nativity, commonly 
spoken of as Christmas, attains prominence as a 

21 


22 THE CHURCH YEAR 


day widely observed in the Church, late in the 
Fourth Century. Other Great Festivals were much 
earlier; but since these other Festivals, particularly 
Easter, had a preparatory season leading up to 
them, when the Nativity joins their rank, a season 
of preparation is provided for it almost immedi- 
ately. However, there was no uniformity either in 
duration or character of observance in the various 
territorial sections of the Church. 


The idea of providing a Quadragesima like Lent 
but Preparatory to the Nativity, seems to have 
originated in France. Milan and Spain followed 
this example. Under this arrangement Advent 
began with St. Martin’s Day, November 11th, and 
could contain as many as seven Sundays, but usually 
contained six. These were interpreted as the Five 
World Periods preceding the Coming (Advent) of 
Christ: 1—Adam to Noah; 2—to Abraham; 3—to 
David; 4—to the Exile; 5—to Christ; the 6th, with 
Christ; the 7th, after. 

The Greek Church still observes a preparatory 
period as long as this, but the Feast it leads to is 
the E'piphany. Rome did not follow this, but estab- 
lished an arrangement of her own which eventual- 
ized in the Season as we now observe it. 

As Advent is four-part, ancient interpreters 
busied themselves in endeavoring to invent a four- 
part meaning for it. The name Advent, literally 
speaking, means coming; but according to the com- 
mentators it is to be understood in the sense of the 
Incarnation of the Son of God. According to one of 
these ancient writers the four Advent Sundays or 
weeks are to be explained as telling of, 1—our Lord’s 
visible coming from Heaven to become incarnate ~ 
and redeem the world from sin; 2—His invisible 
coming in the Spirit to be with His own until time 
Shall end; 3—His invisible coming to each one of 


ADVENT 23 


His own to take him home to Himself; 4—His visible 
coming in Glory to Judgment. Another speaks of 
them as, 1—Incarnation; 2—Redemption; 3—In- 
struction; Luft htea ain Still another very 
briefly, 1—to men; 2—for men; 3—in men; 4— 
against men. 

Since this period is to prepare for the high and 
holy joy of the Nativity, to welcome the Coming 
of God’s Son in humility, it has always been con- 


sidered as a time of deep penitence. “Oh, how | 


shall I receive Thee? How greet Thee, Lord, | 


aright?” It was observed with strict fast, and 
clergy were forbidden to perform marriages. But 
the effort to attach this strict Lenten, penitential, 
character to this Season was never generally suc- 
cessful, although it was, and still is, everywhere 
considered a general season of penitence and prayer. 
This is typified in the Liturgical Color of the Sea- 
son, Violet. 

The beginning of Advent, sometimes spoken of 
as Advent Sunday, is determined by St. Andrew’s 
Day, November 30: Advent Sunday being the near- 
est Sunday, whether before or after. 


Nae 


ty 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 


Introit: Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my 
God, I trust in Thee; rf 
Let me not be ashamed: let not mine enemies triumph over 


me; 

Yea, let none that wait on Thee: be ashamed. 
Psalm: Show me Thy ways, O Lord: teach me Thy paths. 
The Gloria. ; 


Collect: Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and 
come; that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the 
threatening perils of our sins, and saved by Thy mighty 
deliverance; Who livest and reignest with the Father and 
the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen. 


Epistle: Romans 138: 11-14 Gospel: Matthew 21: 1-9 


The beginning of a new Anno Domini in the real 
sense of that term, the Church’s New Year’s Day, 
and instantly the announcement, ‘“‘Zion, behold thy 
King cometh unto thee!’ 

The Church Year is vastly different from the 
common or civil year, not only in its divisions and 
the Days and Facts therein commemorated, but in 
that it is distinctively the Christian Year, in the 
fullest sense the Year of Grace. To grasp this is to 
understand its structure and purpose. For while 
it is built through the conjoining of various Sea- 
sons and marks certain Holy Days for observance, 
this is done with no mechanical or sentimental ob- 
ject in view, but entirely for the believer’s benefit. 
For no Feast or Fast Day or Season will have any 
point or good in its coming or going unless it stirs 
one to remembrance and causes one to pass 
through the commemoration in such a way that one 
will be benefitted thereby. Thus the entire Year 
wherein the Church lives and divides her time, is 
one of great spiritual opportunity; not merely to 

24 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 25 


review and remember, but to see therein more and 
more “what God has done for my soul.” 


The portals are thrown wide, a Year of Grace! 
Will it be a year? Who knows? But in Ged’s good- 
ness to us all there opens before us again the way 
to the Green Pastures and the Still Waters 
perhaps, too, to the Valley of the Shadow. Day by 
day He comes to us. ‘Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift | 
up my soul. O my God, I trust in Thee!” (Introit): 
the entering in; and, if this but truly express the 
spirit of my soul, a most devout entering word! 

The historical point of departure is this: The 

hurch Year begins, one can almost say, picturing 
the Drama of Redemption. It is to be worked out 
according to God’s plan. This is to be vivified in 
the Life of Christ and in the Birth of the Church, 
Christianity. It is to be developed in an orderly 
manner, step by step, Lord’s Day on Lord’s Day; 
a constant calling to remembrance of all that has 
been done and won. But the genius of the Year 
, is in that it develops this in such a way as if we 
| were experiencing this for the first time, as though 
it were all for me;—dramatic perhaps, but it makes 
the contact, the effect, vivid. Hence the constant 
play of Lections, Introits, Collects and Graduals 
and other minor “variables”: all contributing some 
part in developing real contact with a moment 
which is to be to us an intensely real, personal ex- 
perience with the Events. Thus the Year begins 
with the waiting, believing, expectant Church; the 
One Promised, the Saviour, yet to be born to re- 
deem !—and yet we know we are redeemed! But it 
is only by transplanting—transposing !—ourselves 
into such an atmosphere that we will garner the 
full, powerful, realistic and blessed effect of the 
spirit of the Season. 

Advent: Coming. Who cometh? The Gospel 


26 THE CHURCH YEAR 


answers: “Thy King cometh.” To whom? Again 
the answer: “To thee, Zion.” But a coming on 
the one hand means an expectation on the other, 
and this is voiced by the Church in the Introit, the 
confessing prayer of a waiting people, “Unto Thee, 
O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust 
in Thee; let me not be ashamed: let not mine 
enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait 
on Thee be ashamed. Show me Thy ways, O Lord: 


teach me Thy paths.” Soul. . . trust; enemies 
. . triumph; wait on Thee; show me . . . Thy 
ways; teach me .. . Thy paths; one seems 


to see the Year stretching out in all its course .. . 
Redemption ! 

“There are many elements pointedly expressed 
and eloquently crystalized in the word Advent; 
from them comes the spirit of these days, days of 
expectation, of promise, of realization; days of 
preparation, of joy, of serious consideration; days 
of consecration, of getting “in tune with the 
Infinite,” that when the Great Moment has arrived, 
we can cry from the heart: ‘“‘Blessed is He that 
cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosannah!”’ 

The Advent-tide as it prepares for and precedes. 
the Great Day of the Holy Nativity, is very much, 
in our experience, like the Ages which preceded the 
Birth of the Messiah. We are not attempting to 
make that our actual experience now, for we are 
never without the Coming One, without Him Who 
has come and who is coming again, ‘‘Who was, and 
is, and ever will be’; and He ever blesses us with a 
never ceasing coming of His Grace in His Word and 
Sacraments. We want to become thoroughly con- 
scious of the relation in which we stand with Him, 
very particularly at this time. Soon will come the 
Feast Day of His Birth: we want to be ready for 
that as we never have been before; but we cannot go 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 27 


to Christmas Day with a mere thought of a Babe in 
our minds, nor that of celebrating an event marking 
an Anniversary. We have to approach and take that 
Day as part of a Completed Plan; and permit it to 
contribute its peculiar part in influencing us to real- 
ize how we stand, how we feel, what we really are, 
at the Manger Throne in the light of that Completed 
Plan. Small wonder then that at this time, the 
beginning of the Preparation, the Message of An- 
nouncement is so completely illuminating and wide- 
reaching. It signalizes no individual event; it 
marks no one day or hour; it describes no single 
trait or act; but centralizes in its words the Whole 
Story and carries it home to the waiting heart. 

“O my God, I trust in Thee!” Let it be empha- 
sized once for all, right here at the beginning of the 
Year, how individual, personal, this whole expected, 
promised, confessed relationship is: “I ...m 

. Thee’: the trusting one in the Trusted One; 
the trusting one confessing “the threatening perils 
of sins,’ the need for deliverance, the pleading of 
all the Promises—(Has not ancient Prophecy a 
mighty voice these days?)—of help and deliver- 
ance; groping in the dark for the Morning Star’s 
light is still dim but points to the Dayspring’s 
Dawn that will “show me Thy ways and teach me 
Thy paths.” This Divine guidance is the center of 
the confessing waiter’s hope and aspiration. “To 
Thee do I lift up my soul. I trust in Thee.” How 
then could such a waiting, longing Church help 
but pray, “Stir up Thy power and come’ ?—and 
come—we wait, we hope, we look. And herein is 
the whole Year’s forward look: Man, the sinner, 
exiled from God; condemned by sin; enshackeled by 
the enemy, lost, but to be rescued from the perils 
and saved “not by works of righteousness which 
we have done, but according to His mercy.” We 


Who Th ae. 
Nek tren iH, 


Mad Alf 


28 THE CHURCH YEAR 


will hear this very soon, on the First High Day of 
Giving; it will recur again and again throughout 
the Year! Set free by the Son Divine, the Son, the 
Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the 
world. 

The Gospel carries all this in the clarion voice of 
the herald; the watcher on the mountain gives the 
signal, to the waiting Church, ancient and now. 
Hear! “Tell ye the Daughter of Zion, Behold, thy 
King cometh unto thee, meek . . .” Isaiah cries: 
“Say ye to the Daughter of Zion, Behold thy Sal- 
vation cometh; behold His reward is with Him, and 
His work before Him.’ Zachariah cries: “Re- 
joice greatly, O Daughter of Zion; shout, O Daugh- 
ter of Jerusalem, Behold, thy King cometh unto 
thee; He is just and having Salvation; lowly’”—O 
uplifting Glory of the Power to Save—“Stir up Thy 
power and come”—of the King come to redeem and 
bless, of fulfillment, of—Immanuel—God with us! 
“Hosannah in the highest!” 


It is not all joy, oh no! The Gospel carries right 
into that terrible Week which leads through all 
those hours to the Cross! This right at the begin- 
ning of a new Church Year!—with our expectation 
centering in that tender Babe, the Royal Son in the 
humble Inn, with Angels’ Songs and joy, joy! In- 
deed! for hear, “rescued, saved; perils of our sins, 
mighty deliverance.” The Humble Man of the 
Royal Throne, the Cross!—“‘Thy King cometh unto 
thee—meek” ... “Thy Salvation cometh.” 


Up, therefore, prepare for His coming; to meet, 
to greet Him. How? The Epistle carries the in- 
structing answer. The nearing salvation; the 
night is far spent, the day is at hand; darkness, 
light; oh, what contrasts; and last the reaction 
from the dole of sin and the dark of the sin- 
shrouded night give vent in excess of jubilation. 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT 29 


Hear the voice calling to holy preparation, to glad- 
some looking forward; but armed against the 
threatener with the armor that reveals him and his 
ways, with the anticipation of the Coming One. 
He comes! “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” 
Jesus, the Promise said, “He shall save His people 
from their sins” . . . Christ, the Messiah, the 
Promised One, the Anointed One—‘“‘Hosannah!”’ 

A final element must be noted which is strictly 
in point this Day. The story of “Time” is im- 
pressed by the Epistle. It is deeply earnest for 
“the night is far spent, the Day is at hand.” For 
this we need wakefulness, watchfulness. Here 
again, God-granted opportunity is spread before 
us, and instruction how to grasp and use it; for 
He Who has come will come again. Time passes, 
the Day nears—‘‘Behold, thy Salvation cometh!’’ 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 25: 1-2a, 2b, 3a. 
Psalm, Psalm 25: 4 


Collect: Excita, Domine, quaesumus, potentiam tuam et 
veni, ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis te 
mereamur protegente eripi, te liberante salvari. Qui vivis 
et regnas cum Deo Patre in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, 
per omnia saecula saeculorum. 


Gregorian Sacramentary, where it is appointed for use in 
the “month of December,” “the First Lord’s Day’; this of 
course, is Advent Sunday. 


Gradual: Psalm 25:3 (An example of liturgical para- 
phrasing) * 
Psalm 25: 4 
Psalm 85:7 


*It will be very evident, if one is interested in examining these Sources, 
that at times there is a variation in the language of the Introits and 
Graduals between the King James Version and the Text of The Common 
Service Book. This may be accounted for in one or another of two ways. 
It is either because of the difference in the Latin text of the Vulgate, 
which text is the original of the Introits and Graduals; or it may be due 
to liturgical modification, which amounts to a change in phrasing, at 
times resulting in nothing more than a reminiscence of a passage of 
Scripture. 


THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT 


Introit: Daughter of Zion: behold Thy salvation cometh. 

The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard: and 
ye shall have gladness of heart. 

Psalm: Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel: Thou that leadest 
Joseph like a flock. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the 
way of Thine Only-begotten Son, so that by His coming we 
may be enabled to serve Thee with pure minds; through 
Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord.... 


Epistle: Romans 15: 4-13 Gospel: Luke 21: 25-36 


‘Daughter of Zion: behold thy salvation 
cometh” (Introit). To the Church, waiting, expect- 
ant, comes the announcement of the Coming of her 
Lord—“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh.” What 
“sladness of heart” there will be in that everlasting 
union with her Salvation! 


The Second Sunday in Advent completes the 
teaching of the First Sunday. Then the teaching 
of the Day centered in our Lord’s First. Coming, 
His Advent in the flesh, in humility. Today it tells 
of His Second Coming, His Advent to judgment, 
in glory, to inaugurate His eternal Kingdom and 
Rule. This completes the cycle of His Comings, 
and also completes the cycle of Redemption. These 
Comings are described in the Gospels of this and 
the preceding Lord’s Day; and the purpose of the 
Church in thus presenting these Events, and em- 
phasizing them so strongly in this commanding 
and logical position at the entering in of the Eccle- 
siastical Year, is most earnest. 

The object is to tell us of the beginning of our 
Saviour’s earthly life and the heavenly completion 

30 


THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT 31 


of our redeemed life; to show us how quietly, how 
simply, and yet how irresistibly God develops and 
unfolds His eternally planned purpose, and also 
how wonderfully and majestically He completes 
it; to show us that in the Divine Plan there is no 
beginning, can be no beginning, without its ending, 
no plan without its purpose, no prophecy without 
its fulfillment, no fulfillment without its enjoyment, 
no time without its eternity, no faith without its 
fruition, no Saviour without His saved. And as 
the Church teaches today the First Coming cannot 
be considered save as it finds its completion in ‘the 
Second; no more can the Second unless it be con- 
sidered as it traces its origin, its cause, to the First. 
God sends His Son into the world—the King comes 
and may be rejected, but He comes again and must 
be received. Through His humiliation He enters 
into His glory; He comes again “with power and 
great glory” to complete that which He has done 
in His humiliation. The First Advent, Historic 
Fact, lies behind us; the Second lies before. Is this 
not another reason why Advent must be a season 
of penitence, preparation and humble prayer? 
The teaching of the Day centers in the Gospel. 
This brings our Lord’s own Prophecy concerning 
His Second Coming. To it the Church adds other 
prophetic messages out of the long ages of hope 
ere the Sun of Righteousness had risen. The 
ancient prophecies in the Introit are purely Mes- 
sianic, but in their use there is very sweet mean- 
ing to the Daughter of Zion to whom Salvation has 
come, who has heard the Voice and whose heart 
is glad. Yea that all, she makes her song of joy 
in the assurance held out to her, the Bride of 
Christ, in His Coming Again: that these days, the 
days of sin and trial, the days of time and the 
world, will end in the Conqueror’s Coming, in her 


32 THE CHURCH YEAR 


ultimate victory also in Him. This is the coming 
of perfect joy, of fruition. “Gladness of heart ” 
—the song, the everlasting song before the en- 
throned Lamb! 

The parallel runs deeper still. The First Advent 
deals with the Coming of the King—‘“Zion, Behold, 
thy King cometh”’—but the Second, while the King 
comes again, His Coming is the coming of the King- 
dom—“Thy Kingdom come”! Each of these Great 
Events has its own preparation in world events, in 
prophecy, in Divinely given signs; and each bears 
in its very nature, its own attest to its Divine 
Source and Purpose. 

The Epistle serves a double purpose this Day. It 
harmonizes with the Day’s teaching concerning our 
Lord’s Second Coming in bringing its lesson of 
“natience and comfort of the Scriptures” instilling 
hope in the hearts of the waiting believers. “Our 
Hope and Expectation, O Jesus, now appear!” It 
points to Him Who is to come, the Promised One, 
born to redeem, to “save’—only Jews? Was He 
to be only “a minister of the circumcision—to con- 
firm the promises made unto the fathers”? Was He 
not to arise “to give light to them that sit in dark- 
ness and in the shadow of death” ?—“‘to reign over 
the Gentiles.” Are they too not to “trust” in Him? 
The “Coming in of the Gentiles” is most closely 
joined with the Coming of our Lord. He Himself 
teaches this; so does the Apostle Paul: “the fullness 
of the Gentiles.”” Upon them, too, the Light is to 
shine; for them too place is to be in the Kingdom 
of His glory. Further, one should not forget to 
whom the Apostle writes this Epistle; then (and 
to us, too, “Gentiles’!) its blessed prayer will be 
more than prayerful aspiration; it will also be 
guarantee of share in the Hope: “Now the God of 
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, 


THE SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT 33 


that ye may abound in hope, through the power of 
the Holy Ghost.”’ (One cannot pass the opportun- 
ity by of noting how the Apostle has emphasized in 
this Epistle the work of God the Ever-blessed Trin- 
ity in this unique application.) But He also is the 
God of patience, and the Hope may be long de- 
ferred; but the Coming is sure and will be sudden 
as the thief in the night (Gospel); therefore add 
to the lesson of patient and hopeful expectation, the 
warning which our Lord adds to the promise of 
His Coming in the Gospel: “Take heed”—‘‘Watch— 
and pray.” 

While the Second Advent is uppermost in the | 
Church’s thought today, she would not have us for- 
get that we are rapidly approaching that Day which 
commemorates His First Coming, and therefore she 
leads us to pray: “Stir up our hearts to make ready 
the way of Thy Only-begotten Son, so that by His 
coming we may be enabled to serve Thee with pure 
minds” (Col.) Epistle: “like minded one toward 
another according to Christ Jesus’’—“with one 
mind, one mouth glorify God.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 62:11; 30: 30. 
Psalm, Psalm 80: 1. 


Collect: Excita, Domine, quaesumus, corda nostra ad 
praeparandas Unigeniti tui vias: ut per eius adventum puri- 
ficatis tibi servire mentibus mereamur, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary, where it is appointed for an 
Advent Missa. 


Gradual: Psalm 50: 2-3a; Psalm 50:5; Psalm 122: 1;, 
Psalm 122: 2. 


THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT 


Introit: Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Re- 
oice. 

: Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is 
at hand. 

Be careful for nothing: but in everything by prayer and 
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made 
known unto God. 

Psalm: Lord, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land: 
Thou hast brought back the captivity of J acob. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee, give ear to our prayers, 
and lighten the darkness of our hearts, by Thy gracious 
visitation; Who livest... . 


Epistle: I Corinthians 4: 1-5 Gospel: Matthew 11: 2-10 


Due to a single verse in the Epistle, the fifth, 
efforts have been made to force the teaching of 
this Lord’s Day to correspond with a general pre- 
arranged sequence of Advent Lessons: the desire 
being to make this Day teach the Advent to Judg- 
ment. But this single and very brief reference to 
that topic, in the entire group of the Day’s Propers, 
is by no means adequate ground to establish a Sun- 
day’s teaching. 

The Church has set a noble task for her endeavor 
these Advent days, to bring to her children in the 
four short weeks, the history of the need and prom- 
ises, the longings and expectations, the preparation 
of thousands of years of the life of the waiting 
people. With Lessons and Collects, Introits and 
Graduals, she preaches the Word of promise and 
hope mightily. She shows the need :—we recall 
the cry of the opening Introit, “Unto Thee, O Lord, 
do Llift up my soul. Let not mine enemies triumph 
over me. Show me Thy ways, teach me Thy paths.” 

34 


THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT 35 


She announces the promise in the Gospel, “Behold, 
thy King, thy Salvation, cometh.” Then the prep- 
aration; this is two-sided. First the announcement 
of the ancient Heralds, and now the ‘‘Messenger.”’ 
“This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send 
my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare 
thy way before thee.” The cry: ‘‘Prepare—Re- 
pent”; and how is it taken up? Prepare? First 
with gladness; He has kept His word; the waiting 
is over; the promised voice is heard at last. There- 
fore, ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway’—‘“The Lord is 
at hand.”’ But the joy is not to be unrestrained: 
the realization of the blessing in that Coming, in 
that Fulfillment, is best found in quiet, holy, con- 
templation. “Let your moderation—gentleness— 
be known to all men,” in the joy of gratitude and 
adoring worship, in “prayer and supplication with 
thanksgiving.” All that meant to ancient Israel, 
all that means to the New, is sensed in “Lord, Thou 
hast been favorable unto Thy land. Thou hast 
brought back the captivity of Jacob.”’ Thou hast 
not forgotten. Thou hast fulfilled Thy Promise! 
“The Lord is at hand.” — 

One almost feels that he stands like Israel of 
old, looking forward, expectant—hopeful. Does 
the Church really intend that today when the Gospel 
brings the age-old question “Art THOU He that 
should come, or look we for another?” Hardly in 
that sense!—but that she may answer it with her 
testimony: ‘‘Rejoice in the Lord!” 

The question of John in the Gospel is not only a 
natural one in the Advent-tide, but one that must 
be answered by the Advent Messages. Apart from 
any concern about John the Baptist’s faith, or mo- 
tives in sending and asking, there are many even 
now to whom the Church must bear the testimony 
of what she has seen and heard: “Go and show 


36 THE CHURCH YEAR 


again’”—her answer based on her experience, carry- 
ing proof. 

Here and now is Preparation for the Advent, the 
Day of the Forerunner to whom our Lord vouch- 
safed a definite answer linking it with ancient, 
Messianic, prophecy; granting also His personal 
commendation—“My Messenger’—the herald of 
the Coming King, the messenger of the Preparation, 
“the burning and the shining light” who was but 
the merest ray before the Day-spring Who was to 
arise to give Light (cf. Col.), to be “the Light of 
the world.” 

As John was the preacher of the Preparation, so 
the Church places him before us in this historic 
place and relationship today, and joins with this a 
very definite application in the Epistle. The King 
Who is to come again still has the Preachers of the 
Preparation—‘“ministers of Christ, stewards of 
the mysteries of God”—“Go and show’! The 
Church and her—HIS—ministers “rejoices in the 
Lord, alway !’’—because He has come, because He 
is to come—“The Lord is at hand.” Their “‘gentle- 
ness” is to be known to all men! Carefree, but 
prayerful and thankful they go before Him (Jnt.). 
They have ever before them this Herald’s example, 
they are to let men “so account of” them “as of the 
ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries 
of God’’; they are to remember the word—/aithful. 
They are to learn, as did John, what is means to 
fight through the trials of this life, the testing of 
one’s faith, the judgment of men, the suffering for 
righteousness’ sake. They are to face the perils of 
being “offended in Me,” and if He but grant the 
grace, learn the blessedness of clinging to Him 
through all—“faithful’’! 


THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT 37 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Philippians 4: 4, 5, 6. It is extremely 
rare to find a New Testament passage appointed in the 
Introit. 

Psalm, Psalm 85: 1. 

Collect: Aurem tuam, quaesumus Domine, precibus nostris 
accomoda: et mentis nostrae tenebras, gratia tuae visita- 
tionis illustra, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, where this Collect is appointed for 
the Second Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord. 


Gradual: Psalm 80: 1b, 2b; Psalm 80: 1a; Psalm 80: 2b. 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT 


Introit: Drop down, ye heavens, from above: and let the 
skies pour down righteousness. 

Let the earth open: and bring forth salvation. 

Psalm: The heavens declare the glory of God: and the 
firmament showeth His handiwork. 

The Gloria. : 


Collect: Stir up, O Lord, we beseech Thee, Thy power, and 
come, and with great might succor us, that by the help of 
Thy grace whatsoever ig hindered by our sins may be 
speedily accomplished, through Thy mercy and satisfaction, 
Who livest... 


Epistle: Philippians 4: 4-7 Gospel: John 1: 19-28 


The last of the Sundays of the preparation for 
the Great Day soon to come is here. In olden days 
it was called Praeparatio, the Preparation. All is 
expectation. The Church bursts forth in a won- 
drous song: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above: 
and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the 
earth open and bring forth salvation.” She knows 
Who has come, Who cometh again, “Who standeth 
among you,” Whose Natal Day she will soon com- 
memorate again: the Birthday of the Babe of 
Bethlehem, but, “True Son of the Father, He comes 
from the skies”—(Int./) “Born to set His people 
free.” The Introit reaches far beyond the immedi- 
ate moment, that of ushering in the Festival of the 
Nativity (first verse) ; it earries far ahead to the 
Cross-crowned Hill and the setting up of the En- 
sign for all the world—the Victory (second verse). 
God showers His Love upon the world, that out of 
it may grow the Tree of Life—and here the plant- 
ing! 

To the Church’s song is added the Herald’s testi- 

38 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT 39 


mony (Gospel) —“And this is the record of John.” 
This is uniquely in place this Day. Again there 
is a questioning embassage—“Who art thou?” Not 
HE, but the voice—‘“Prepare ye the way of the 
Lord.” Like a mighty antiphonal chorus, the 
Epistle adds its cry, “The Lord is at hand!”’—the 
great Advent Cry. 

Thus the Day leads us forth to meet Him Who 
cometh. How shall we prepare to welcome Him? 
We need to follow the Herald’s cry, ‘‘Make straight 
the way of the Lord’—“O come to my heart Lord 
Jesus!” We need to feel that same humility and 
unworthiness—“Whose shoes’ latchet J am _ not 
worthy to unloose.” We need to learn the empty- 
ing of self, the effacement of self—Who art thou? 
Who but His loyal herald, that the ‘One Who 
standeth among” us may be revealed. We need to 
pray, “Stir up Thy power and come, and with great 
might succor us, that by the help of Thy grace, 
whatsoever is hindered by our sins may be speedily 
accomplished by Thy mercy and _ satisfaction” 
(Col.) —a self-emptying, a self-surrender, that may 
find its fullness in receiving, and owning, and be- 
ing owned by, HIM. And how the Epistle teaches 
the true preparation: Hearts full of joy; lives re- 
vealing all gentleness; mouths filled with prayer 
and thanksgiving; souls possessed of the Peace of 
God. “To Bethlehem hasten, to worship the Lord!” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 45: 8a, 8b. 
Psalm, Psalm 19: 1. 


Collect: Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam; et magna nobis 
virtute succurre: ut per auxilium gloriae tuae, quod nostra 
peccata praepediunt, indulgentia tuae propitiationis acceleret. 
Qui vivis... 

Gelasian Sacramentary, where it is appointed for the 
First Lord’s Day before the Nativity. 


Gradual: Psalm 145: 18; Psalm 145: 21; Psalm 40: 17b. 


CHRISTMAS DAY—THE NATIVITY 
OF OUR LORD 


I 
For THE EARLY SERVICE 


Introit: The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son: 
this day have I begotten Thee. 

Psalm: The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with majesty: 
the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded 
Himself. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who hast made this most holy night to 
shine with the brightness of the true Light: Grant, we be- 
seech Thee, that as we have known on earth the mysteries 
of that Light, we may also come to the fullness of His joys 
in heaven; Who liveth and reigneth. . . 


Epistle: Titus 2: 11-14; Isaiah 9: 2-7 Gospel: Luke 2:1-14 


II 
FoR THE LATER SERVICE 


Introit: Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: 
and the government shall be upon His shoulder. 

And His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
Mighty God: The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Psalm: O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath 
done marvellous things. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the 
new Birth of Thine Only-begotten Son in the flesh may set 
us free who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of 
sin; through the same... 


Epistle: Hebrews 1: 1-12 Gospel: John 1: 1-14 


The Name of the Day. This Festival, being dis- 
tinctly of Western origin, bears as its earliest name, 
Natalis or Nativitas Domini, hence, the Nativity of 
our Lord. From this is derived Noel, French and 
early English. The German name, Weithnacht— 

40 


CHRISTMAS DAY Al 


Holy Night—is derived from the solemn Vigil 
which preceded the Feast. Scandinavian, Yule, 
which also found its way into English use. Christ- 
mas is distinctively the English name. It is analo- 
gous to such names as Candlemas, Michaelmas, the 
Christ-mass, meaning the Mass of Christ’s Day. 


History of the Festival.—tit is not hard to under- 
stand why the Church should commemorate an- 
nually our Lord’s Incarnation; it would seem very 
unnatural not to do so. Yet this Feast is far from 
being the oldest in the Church’s life, and seems to 
have come into its use as a result, partially at least, 
of a desire to offset a day observed by the heretical 
Gnostics, and a holiday period dear to heathen 
Rome. Whether these elements contributed to, or 
forced the introduction of, this Feast by the Church 
is largely a matter of conjecture. At all events the 
earliest traces of this Festival as a Church observ- 
ance are to be found in the Eastern Church as early 
as the end of the Third Century, when January 6 
is observed in the double capacity as the Day of our 
Lord’s Birth and Baptism. It then bore and still 
bears the name of The Epiphany, the Manifesta- 
tion. There is some scant evidence that this Feast 
and date were observed here and there in other 
territories, but mainly local. It did not commend 
itself to the Roman Church’s use. 

Tradition, of course, tells of an early observance; 
but there is a wide difference between that and his- 
tory. When men began to think of such things and 
look into such matters, nobody knew the date when 
our Lord was born. So they began to reckon on 
whatever “evidence” they had, and consulted what- 
ever “records” were at hand, and so finally arrived 
at certain dates, which were duly announced as the 
dates of such and such events in our Lord’s life. 
Such a chronological calculation by one of Rome’s 


42 THE CHURCH YEAR 


truly great churchmen, Hippolytus (about 220) 
has given us December 25 as the date of our Lord’s 
Nativity. At this time there is no thought evident 
of a festival observance. The introduction of the 
Festival on this date is attributed to both Julius I 
(3387-52) and Liberius (354), Bishops of Rome: 
proof that even Rome is not certain when the festival 
observance began! However, this is the general 
period, late Fourth Century; and gradually the 
observance spread from land to land, ever growing 
in popularity and greatness until it is acclaimed as 
the Greatest Festival. 

Its introduction into the Eastern Church took 
place at the end of the Fourth Century. The West 
received and accepted the great day of the East, 
the Epiphany on January 6, and the East accepted 
the Western “Christmas.” Here it was far from 
popular; the people were wedded to their own day; 
but opposition was overcome slowly, and the Feast 
found its place in the Church’s life. It was intro- 
duced in Constantinople in 379; Chrysostom 
preached on the Gospel in Antioch on the Festival 
in 388. He spoke of the slow headway the Day had 
made in the regard of the people, although it had 
been known for ten years; of the prejudice against 
it, because the people would not give their new Day 
the regard they held for the old. To this day, the 
Epiphany is the Great Day in the Eastern Church! 

Because of its nearness to the beginning of the 
Church Year, and since it tells of God’s Great Gift 
to men, the very spirit of the Festival calls to peace 
and loving friendship, and expresses itself in a cus- 
tom that has been associated with it from time im- 
memorial, the interchange of gifts and good wishes. 


The reason for the two complete sets of Propers 
appointed for this Day is historic. The Church pre- 


CHRISTMAS DAY 43 


pared for this great Day not only with the prepara- 
tory Season of Advent, but with solemn services on 
the day before, especially the evening of this day. 
These last were called the Vigils of the Feast; the 
expression indicates just what the congregation 
did: gathered in the church, passing the hours in 
songs, prayers and listening to homilies, watching 
(Vigils) for the coming of the Day. As midnight 
would strike, then would burst forth the song of 
Joy, the first Introit of the Day: “The Lord hath 
said unto Me, Thou art My Son: this day have I 
begotten Thee.” How wonderfully pointed this the 
first announcement! 

Prophecy found its place in one of the Epistles, 
but here it is prophecy fulfilled. The purpose of 
His Coming, the message to, and the life He de- 
mands of, mankind in the other. The Gospel is 
the narrative of the Historic Fact. The language 
of the Collect for the Early Service is testimony 
of the time when it was used. It finds its inspira- 
tion in the Isaiah Prophecy and the Life that ful- 
filled it. How full its single sentence is of the 
Christmas Glory! 

ne second set of Propers has been spoken of as 
dogmatic in purpose in contrast with the first set 


nee 


which are historic. One needs to be carried away 


day” not Holy-day; one needs to have the Wondrous 
Story told in its full import, in its application to 
the souls and lives of men. When one meets this 
group of Propers one feels as though the old fathers 
had taken the Angelic Message, “Unto you is born 
this day a Saviour Who is Christ the Lord,” and, 
using it as a text, developed the mightiest Festival 
Sermon possible in the Scriptures for the Second 
Service. 

Here again the lofty strains of inspired men: 


ae 


ener 


oO aoa 


44 THE CHURCH YEAR 


The Prophet in the Introit; The Writer in the 
Epistle; the great Prose-singer, the Witness in the 
Gospel. Note the testimony: “Unto us a child is 
born. Unto us a Son is given.”—Introit. Whose? 
“God’s Son—through Whom He hath spoken unto 
us”—E'pistle; “The Only-begotten of the Father, 
full of grace and truth—The true Light’—Gospel. 
Nor is there lacking the element of the witness- 
bearing Church, “We have seen His glory.” 

In the midst of the great joy of this Holy Day, 
comes the quietly sober note of the Collect of the 
Later Service. The Church could pray for many 
things; no doubt her greatest desire would be to 
take up the Glory-song of the Angels and pour it 
forth in adoration and thanksgiving; but in deep 
quietness of heart she finds the very center of the 
Coming-into-the-world and carries that in her festal 
prayer to the Giver of the Gift Divine. As one 
prays, one thinks of “If the Son shall make you 
free, ye shall be free indeed” and the “God so loved 
the world.” The play of the original language is not 
only extremely expressive but very beautiful, and 
very excellently rendered in the English transla- 
tion. In addition to being our prayer, this Collect 
is a very concise and complete doctrinal statement 
of the Incarnation of the Son and the Goal set be- 
fore Him. 


SOURCES 


I—Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 2: 7 
Psalm, Psalm 93:1 


Collect: Deus, qui hanc sacratissimam noctem veri luminis 
fecisti inlustratione clarescere: Da, quaesumus; ut, cuius 
Lucis mysterium in terra cognovimus, eius quoque gaudiis in 
caelo perfruamur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, appointed for the Vigils. 


Gradual: Psalm 110:3; Psalm 110:1; Psalm 2: 7. 


CHRISTMAS DAY 45 


II—Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 9: 6 


Psalm, Psalm 98:1 
Collect: Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut 
Unigeniti tui nova per carnem Nativitas liberet, quos sub 


peccati iugo vetusta servitus tenet, per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary, for the second Mass in the Night. 


Gradual: Psalm 98: 3b; Psalm 98:2; Psalm 95:1, 6a. 


THE SECOND CHRISTMAS DAY 


Introit and Collect as for Christmas Day. 


Epistle: Titus 3: 4-7 Gospel: Luke 2:15-20 


Each of the Great Festivals, it will be found, is 
followed by a number of days directly connected 
with the Great Day-by name and continuing the 
festival commemoration by some additional contri- 
bution. Originally this lasted through the entire 
week following and closed with the Eighth Day— 
thus the name Octave of the Feast, with another 
reference to the Feast. 

In the case of Christmas, the days immediately 
following, however, have a character of their own, 
notwithstanding their connection with the Great 
Festival and the continuance of the festival cele- 
bration. Reference to The Calendar and to the 
Propers appointed in The Common Service Book 
will show first: The Second Christmas Day and 
then St. Stephen’s Day, December 26th, and St. 
John’s Day, December 27th. To these should be 
added, without question, The Holy Innocents’ Day, 
December 28th, if the little cycle is to be histor- 
ically and logically complete. 

One must admit the possibility of confusion all 
too apparent in the appointment of two possible 
observances for one day: one an immediate and un- 
broken continuation of the Feast, the other a Mar- 
tyr’s Day finding its very apt and deserved connec- 
tion with the Christmas-tide. While S¢. Stephen’s 
Day enters the Church Year apparently at an early 
date, its appointment here with the addition of the 
other two days was made deliberately. The cele- 
bration of the Second Christmas Day is what one 

46 


THE SECOND CHRISTMAS DAY AT 


might call spontaneous, and unquestionably the 
original commemoration, and directly part of the 
Feast; and where it is possible to hold Services on 
this Day, its Propers, without question, would be 
used, but commemoration of St. Stephen should not 
be omitted. This commemoration, liturgically 
speaking, consists of the use of the Proper Collect 
of St. Stephen’s Day immediately after the Collect 
of the Day. 

There is a possibility of a third appointment fall- 
ing on this Day! When Christmas Day falls on a 
Saturday, December 26th will naturally be a Sun- 
day; thus The First Sunday after Christmas, for 
which the Church appoints a complete and distinc- 
tive group of Propers, will ‘‘concur”’ with the other 
two Festivals. There should not be any confusion 
as The Second Christmas Day would take the “‘pre- 
cedence,” and then both the Collect of this Sunday, 
and that of St. Stephen’s Day would be used after 
the Christmas Collect. When Christmas Day falls 
on a Sunday, the appointments for the First Sun- 
day after Christmas will be displaced. Then the 
Sunday after Christmas will be not only the Octave 
of Christmas but also the Feast of the Circumcision. 
Rules governing these cases of “‘concurrence” and 
“precedence” of Festivals and Days will be found 
in The Common Service Book, in the General Ru- 
brics, page 491, Text Edition. 


SOURCES 


Gradual: Psalm 118: 26a, 27; Psalm 118: 23; Psalm 
93: la, b. 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER 
CHRISTMAS 


Introit: Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh 
Thine house, O Lord, forever. 
Ly throne is established of old: Thou art from everlast- 


ing. 

Psalm: The Lord reigneth, He is clothed with majesty: 
the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith He hath girded 
Himself. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, direct our actions 
according to Thy good pleasure, that in the Name of Thy 
beloved Son, we may be made to abound in good works; 
through the same . 


Epistle: Galatians 4: 1-7 Gospel: Luke 2: 33-40 


In the old Service Books of the Church this Day 
is always spoken of as the Sunday within the 
Octave of Christmas. In some years it will not be 
observed, as reference to the preceding Day’s Notes 
will show. It was a possibility in The Calendar 
that had to be reckoned with not only in the Church 
Year but also in Church life, and therefore pro- 
vision had to be made for it. That it occupies a 
kind of anomalous position cannot be denied, and 
that it is not expected to contribute a very import- 
ant part to the building of the Year is also appar- 
ently its fate. This is not deserved, for there are 
important lessons to be brought home and the Day 
with its testimony is needed, not to strengthen, but 
to complete. 

Midway, let us say, between two great Feasts, 
the Birth and the Circumcision, we come to this 
Day. Announcement and testimony, acceptance 
and joy, fulfillment and application, have been 

48 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS 49 


heard and learned. Between the Gospels of the 
Birth and of the Submission to the Law, this Day’s 
Epistle declares, “When the fulness of the time was 
come—(the completion of the Preparation—Ad- 
vent!)—God sent forth His Son—(The Nativity) 
—made of a woman—(the connection with the In- 
carnation)—made under the Law—(the connec- 
tion with the Circumcision)—to redeem them that 
were under the Law—(the waiting, expectant Is- 
rael)—that we might receive the adoption of sons 
—(The Gift). And because ye are sons, God hath 
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, 
erying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more 
a servant but a son; and if a son, then an heir of 
God through Christ”—“Thy testimonies are very 
sure!’’—(the purpose of the Incarnation). The 
Birth of Christ for us is to be the Birth of Christ in 
us. The goal of this is visualized in the three Fes- 
tivals so close to this Sunday, St. Stephen, St. John, 
and Holy Innocents. The way to this goal, which 
only will be reached in Eternity, must be revealed 
and taught. It leads through repentance and the 
law. We are “heirs,” true; but “so long as the heir 
is a child he differeth nothing from a servant, even 
though he be lord of all; but is under tutors and 
governors until the time appointed of the father.” 
So we when we were children were under the bond- 
age of the law; but the time appointed has come; 
and through the sending of God’s Son, sonship has 
become ours, the bondage of the servitude of the 
law gives place to the freedom of an heir of God 
through Christ. 

The Gospel, an altogether too brief a look into 
the days of the Holy Infancy, shows us the accept- 
ance and joy of two of the ancient saints, “under 
the Law,” who were looking for the Promise. 
Would we had that precious Song of Simeon in this 


50 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Gospel also! ‘For mine eyes have seen Thy Sal- 
vation.” It carries with it the prophecy of the sor- 
row and suffering which is to come; it promises 
the uplift and glory to be revealed in Him. The 
place of the Law in the Epistle, the observance of 
the Law in the Gospel: both serve to emphasize 
the aspect of the Law in the lives of men before 
the Coming of the Son. 

The Collect seems to find its inspiration in the 
holy lives of Simeon and Anna, such faithful ex- 
amples of devotion even under the Law; but when. 
at the end of the Gospel we read of the growth of 
the Holy Babe, growing into the youth and man- 
hood which later receives the Father’s commenda- 
tion—“In Whom I am well pleased’”—we find the 
source of the petition that the Father “would direct 
our actions according to His good pleasure” that 
our lives may abound more and more. 

The Collect is particularly appropriate for an- 
other application. This Sunday is the Last in the 
Civil Year. The Church does not recognize, or 
rightly know anything of, a New Year’s Day: this 
is foreign to her Year and her purpose. But in 
the early days of the Church, this time of the year 
was given over to celebrations of heathen customs 
in connection with the ending of the old, and the 
beginning of the new, year. Certain gods and god- 
desses were invoked, their shrines thronged; and, 
with a holiday spirit permeating the days, excesses 
of most revolting character became very common. 
The influence of such things was felt in two ways. 
First the Christmas Cycle was emphasized all the 
more strongly and filled with celebrations peculiar 
to itself; and then, when the carnival spirit through 
its lure to pleasure and excess made itself felt, even 
within the fold, the Church entitled the Mass of 
this Day as one for the redemption from the wor- 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS 51 


ship of tdols! The present Collect is that of this 
ancient Mass; knowledge of this makes it all the © 
more pointed. | 

A much later age turned the attention more and: 
more to the celebration of this Sunday as a sort of 
Old _Year’s Day with a looking forward into the 
New. The Collect in particular, and some parts of 
the Gospel were used in this connection as perti- 
nent. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 98:5, 2. 
Psalm, Psalm 93: 1. 


Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, dirige actus nostros 
in beneplacito tuo, ut in nomine dilecti filii tui mereamur 
bonis operibus abundare, per eundem. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, appointed for the Mass for re- 
demption from the worship of idols. 


Gradual: Psalm 45: 2; Psalm 45:1; Psalm 93: 1. 


THE CIRCUMCISION AND THE 
NAME OF JESUS 


Introit: O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in 
all the earth: Who hast set Thy glory above the heavens. 

What is man that Thou art mindful of him: and the son 
of man that Thou visitest him? 

Psalm: Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer: Thy 
Name is from everlasting. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord God, Who, for our sakes, hast made Thy 
blessed Son our Saviour subject to the Law, and caused Him 
to endure the circumcision of the flesh: Grant us the true 
circumcision of the Spirit, that our hearts may be pure from 
all sinful desires and lusts; through the same... 


Epistle: Galatians 3: 23-29 Gospel: Luke 2: 21 


With the Festival of the Nativity assigned to a 
particular date, the Feast of the Circumcision and 
the Name of Jesus follows logically “eight days” 
thereafter. This is established by the Gospel. This 
“Kighth Day’ has been observed from an early 
period as, first, the Octave of the Nativity, then, 
somewhat later, as the Feast mentioned. It cannot 
be dissociated from the Birth of our Lord, and must 
always be regarded as part of the great center of 
this Cycle, contributing its unique part to the 
Record of the Humiliation of the Son Divine. Not 
the least phase of its value in the Church Year and 
to the worshiper, is that it is also His Holy Name 
Day. The Roman Church appoints a Festival of 
the Holy Name, but not in this Season, and there- 
fore lacking both the important historic connection 
and the rich opportunity this affords. This very 
happy and expressive union is distinctively an ap- 
pointment of the Church of the Reformation, and, of 

52 


THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS 53 


course, finds its inspiration in the Gospel for the 
Day, the shortest liturgical Lection, by the way, in 
the whole Church Year. 

This whole period, in the earlier centuries of 
Church life, fell in the midst of one of the greatest 
heathen festival seasons, and it can readily be 
imagined how difficult it was for the Church to 
make headway in observance of Holy Days ’mid 
the driving stream of worldly pleasure and relax- 
ation. Particularly is this true of this Feast which 
is coincident, even in early times, with the Kalends 
or first of January, when the heathen Roman world 
broke loose in the riotous orgies of the Saturnalia. 


Of course the Church has never purposely con- 
nected “January Ist” with the beginning of its year 
nor has it ever recognized a “New Year’s Day” 
excepting Advent Sunday. The observance of this 
Day and its spirit has been wholly intended to be 
associated with the Christmas Cycle; but as years 
passed the New Year’s Day idea made itself felt, 
and gradually came into the ascendency, fortun- 
ately not altogether displacing The Circumcision, 
but making it decidedly secondary. This custom 
antedates the Reformation by many years; and like 
many other inherited things, drew from the great 
Reformer expressive observations, as: “On this 
day it is considered necessary to announce and 
speak of, the New Year, as though there were not 
enough necessary and salutary things to preach 
about without this”; and again, “This day is called 
the New Year’s Day after the custom of Rome,— 
this and other things, which we have received from 
Rome, we now let pass away. Since, however, the 
Feast of the Circumcision of Christ has been ap- 
pointed to this day, it is proper that we preach 
about this today.” 


Notwithstanding this rightful recognition of the 


54 THE CHURCH YEAR 


true place and value of the Feast by Luther and 
the other Reformers, the day continued to be ob- 
served as New Year’s Day with The Circumcision 
secondary or even entirely displaced! This unhap- 
pily proves how hard a task the Church has to com- 
bat and overcome worldly customs which force their 
way into her life and affect Church practice, when 
once they become popularly established. 

“His Name was called JESUS” when He was 
made to conform to the Law: The promised Name, 
—“‘Thy Name is from everlasting” (Jnt.); the 
authorized Name,—‘“which was so named of the 
Angel” (Gos.) ; the all-revealing Name,—“O Lord, 
our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the 
earth” (Int.)—“Given Him a Name which is above 
every name: that at the Name of JESUS every knee 
should bow.” 

“The Year begins with Thee,” so runs an old 
Breviary hymn for the Day. “The Year begins 
with Thee,’—in our hearts, in our minds, in our 
lives. We have just welcomed the Guest of guests, 
and sung Venite adoremus; our prayer, “O come 
to my heart Lord Jesus; there is room in my heart 
for Thee’ ;—and we know Who has come, the Day- 
spring from on high, the Giver of Light to us in 
darkness and shadow, the Bringer of Peace. His 
Glory revealed, our souls respond in adoration. He 
has come, not to go, but to remain—‘What is man 
that Thou art mindful of him: and the son of man 
that Thou visitest him?”—(Jnt.) He is our Lord, 
—“O Lord, our Lord,’”—and we are His—brethren 
—‘For ye are the children of God by faith in Christ 
Jesus—for ye are all one in Christ. And if ye be 
Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs 
according to the promise” (Epistle). 


The historic element in the development of the 
Life of the Holy Babe is brought us by the Gospel, 


THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS 55 


the shortest of all, but in some respects the most 
complete in revealing promise, in tender comfort to 
him who waits in hope. The choice of the Epistle 
which is the companion of this Gospel, is probably 
due to the mention of Baptism of which Circum- 
cision is the Old Covenant type, and the reference 
to the state under the Law before faith had come. 
Through the Rite of Circumcision the recipient 
entered into the covenantal relation, “Abraham’s 
seed—heir to the promise’”—; but ‘‘as many of you 
as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ 
—ye—are the children of God by faith in Christ 
Jesus.” The Collect is in complete harmony with 
these Lections. Note again how the Festival Col- 
lect always recites the Event. 

With the performance of the ancient Rite comes 
the custom of name-giving: not merely as a means 
of identity but as marking a distinct personality, 
and individualizing the life thus named, such an 
one entering upon his own peculiar development. 
He is now “so and so,” not so and so’s son or child, 
but—the name—and is known by this. Following 
this custom, the Holy Infant is submitted to the 
Rite and Mary’s Son receives His name—‘“His 
Name was called JESUS.” If we were only able 
to reach the lowest peak of the great and lofty 
heights, all carrying higher and higher—(‘‘Who 
hast set Thy glory above the heavens’) —which 
merest thought of the Holy Name, Jesus, wakens! 
If one could but sing it, or write it, what a welling 
forth of praise and trust, of faith and comfortable- 
ness, of joy and peace, of thankfulness and ador- 
ation! 

It is Festival Day! Not because the Nativity 
was but a week ago; nor because the New Year has 
dawned, this is but a mere accretion; but it is 
Festival Day because today that Holy Child is 


56 THE CHURCH YEAR 


named with the Name of names, and forever on- 
ward, the heart clings to Him, not the Babe of 
Bethlehem, but JESUS—‘“Jesus, Name all names 
above, Jesus best and dearest, Jesus, Fount of per- 
fect Love, holiest, tenderest, nearest; Jesus, Source 
of grace completest, Jesus purest, Jesus sweetest ; 
Jesus, Well of Power Divine, make me, keep me, 
seal me, Thine!” (Theoctistus). 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 8: 1, 4 
Psalm, Isaiah 63: 16 


Collect: Omnipotens Deus, cujus Unigenitus hodierna die, 
ne Legem solveret, quam adimplere venerat, corporalem sus- 
cepit Circumcisionem: spiritali circumcisione mentes vestras 
ab omnibus vitiorum incentivis expurget, et suam in vos 
infundat benedictionem. Amen. 

Gregorian Sacramentary. The original Latin is a Bene- 
diction not a Collect, and our Collect is based upon this part 
of the Benediction. 


Gradual: Psalm 98: 3; Psalm 98: 2; Hebrews 1: 1, 2. 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER 
CHRISTMAS 


Introit, Collect and Gradual as for the First Sunday after 
Christmas. 


Epistle: I Peter 4: 12-19 Gospel: Matthew 2: 13-23 


There is a possibility that in some years a Sun- 
day may fall between The Circumcision (Jan. 1st) 
and The Epiphany (Jan. 6th). The Roman Church 
does not recognize this possibility, relying on its 
other appointments to meet the need should it 
arise; the Anglican Church simply directs: “The 
same Collect, Epistle and Gospel (of the Circum- 
cision—, they have lost the historic Introits) shall 
serve for every day after (1.e., the Circumcision) 
unto the Epiphany.” 

The Church of the Reformation is the first to 
provide specific and appropriate appointments for 
this Day. This was done in the early part of the 
Seventeenth Century. Some of the ancient Lection- 
aries appointed Scripture passages for this Day, 
but because one had been used just a few days pre- 
viously and another appeared to be a repetition of 
another preceding selection, they did not commend 
themselves for perpetuation in our Use. 

The fact that the Day is still a part of this im- 
portant Cycle, and very close to The Epiphany, no 
doubt influenced the choice of the only remaining 
Gospel of the Infancy not otherwise appointed. This 
Gospel contains the account of the Flight into 
Egypt, and the Martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. 
It will be recalled that The Holy Innocents’ Day 
has been excluded from the Church Year. Of this 
Gospel Luther writes: “This is indeed an import- 

57 


58 THE CHURCH YEAR 


ant narrative, which should not be permitted to 
disappear from the churches for any reason: im- 
portant because of the teaching and then on ac- 
count of the comfort, which therein is brought be- 
fore us Christians. The teaching is this: That we 
see how the devil and the world are enemies of the 
Little Child Jesus and His Kingdom; how strenu- 
ously they fight against Him; how they seek to 
oppress, smother, and wipe it out. The comfort is 
this: That this purposing by the world will not 
sueceed. It must leave Christ, His Word and His 
Church, in possession of the field; the tyrants shall 
be brought low; there will be nothing to help them.” 

To this Gospel, 1 Peter 4: 12-19 was added as 
companion Epistle. Can anyone fail to mark the 
harmony? Both Lections treat of suffering: In 
the Gospel, the Lord’s and the Little Ones of Beth- 
lehem for Him; in the Epistle, the Christian’s, ‘for 
the Name of Christ”—“partaker of Christ’s suffer- 
ings.” 

As this Sunday, whenever it does appear in the 
Church Year, must invariably be the first Sunday 
in the new Civil Year, the Lessons are also instruc- 
tive in this connection. This is especially true of 
the Epistle which deals with the sufferings of the 
Christian and his comfort in the midst of them; 
for every new year will bring new experiences in 
this school but also new blessings in the comfort 
of the fellowship of Christ. Bravely he may not 
only look forward, but press on into the unknown, 
committing the keeping of his soul to his faithful 
God. 

The Collect for New Year, as well as the sug- 
gested appointment, will enrich the harmony of 
the Day’s teaching. 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS 59 


SOURCES 


The probable Source of the New Year Collect is found in 
a much longer German Collect in the Oestreich Kirchen Ord- 
nung of 1571, there appointed for Neu Jahrstag. 


THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 


Introit: Behold the Lord, the Ruler, hath come: and the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, are in His hand. 

Psalm: Give the King Thy judgments, O God: and Thy 
righteousness unto the King’s Son. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who by the leading of a star didst mani- 
fest Thy Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully 
grant, that we, who know Thee now by faith, may after this 
life have the fruition of Thy glorious God-head ; through the 
same... 


Epistle: Isaiah 60: 1-6 Gospel: Matthew 2: 1-12 


The Festival is known as The Epiphany, Mani- 
festation, of our Lord; and also as The Theophany, 
the Manifestation of God. It has been called the 
Fest. trium regum, the Feast of the Three Kings: 
German, Drei Keenigetag; in England, Twelfth 
Day. 

To a certain degree The Epiphany must be as- 
sociated with Christmas; but there is a place where 
it is independent of that Cycle, and initiates a dis- 
tinct advance in the Church Year’s teaching. The 
association with Christmas is natural, bringing as 
it does one of the precious Gospels of the Holy In- 
fancy. Its history is somewhat varied before it 
arrives at its present position in the Year and its 
present meaning. In one large section of the Church 
it originally was, and, for that matter, still is, their 
Christmas Festival, being their commemoration of 
our Lord’s Birth and Baptism in one. The truth 
is that this Day and combined observance really 
antedated the Festival of the Nativity by quite 
some years. 

The origin of the Feast is in the Eastern Church, 

60 


THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 61 


Third Century, from which section also we receive 
the name it carries, Hpiphany. At least two Epiph- 
anies were commemorated, the Birth and the Bap- 
tism; in the latter case the name Theophany is 
used. As a reason for this double remembrance, 
one of the early Fathers implies that Jesus was 
baptized on His thirtieth Birthday. Quickly other 
Epiphanies are added, as for example, the First 
Miracle, which gave the Feast a very little used 
name, Bethphania, from the place where the Mir- 
acle was performed. It will be noted that the Feast 
celebrates a certain central idea, but that this is 
founded on, associated with, a group of Events. 


As noted above, under the Notes on Christmas, 
introduction of this Feast into the Western Church 
from the Eastern, came only after the establish- 
ment of the Christmas observance in the West. 
For this reason the later adopted, but earlier, ' 
Festival received a much fuller interpretation and 
application in the Church Year in the West. The 
Coming of the Magi is made the center, but it is 
“to the King”; their seeking, acknowledgment, 
worship and acclaim; the “apparition” of Christ 
to them, the “Gentiles,” is a later addition, but 
served to develop the complete teaching demanded 
by the Coming of the Son into the world: first to 
“His own,” then “to the Gentiles.” ‘God so loved 
the world . . . whosoever’—“all men to be saved.” 
We remember we had the completeness of the 
Promise in the Coming one of the Advent Sundays, 
in the E’pistle of the Second; here is the fulfillment, 
and to this will be added other proof later in the | 
Epiphany Season. 

It will be noted that the Gospel of the Baptism, 
which was one of the original Festival Lections, no 
longer appears among the Liturgical Gospels. This 
is unfortunate. To complete the group however 


62 THE CHURCH YEAR 


in our Use, this Gospel has been appointed for the 
Vespers of the Feast. 

This Day, like Christmas, is one of the immov- 
able Festivals, being celebrated on a fixed date, 
January 6th. There is no certain reason for the 
choice of this date. The East arrived at this date 
in much the same manner as the West determined 
upon December 25th for the Nativity, by calcula- 
tions based on a certain fixed starting point. In 
this case the East began with April 6th as the date 
of the Crucifixion, and arguing or reckoning, as the 
Church everywhere always has, on the premise of 
a “perfect” Life, the Annunciation would be that 
date also, and therefore the Birthday would be 
January 6th. The fact that both heathen and 
heretical celebrations centered around this date, 
may also have borne some influence: the desire, of 
course, being to give the faithful a Day to observe 
which would counteract the influences without. 

The Epiphany being a fixed date, and Easter be- 
ing a movable Festival naturally means that the 
period between the two will be shorter or longer, 
depending upon the early or late date of Haster. 
Lent and the three pre-Lent Sundays being a defi- 
nitely closed period, the variation will be felt in 
the Epiphany Season. It is possible to have six 
Sundays after the Epiphany, but this is seldom the 
ease. Provision has been made for all of these in 
our Use, especially noteworthy being the appoint- 
ments for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, and 
the rubrical directions in the Common Service 
Book, a distinctive use of the Church of the Reform- 
ation. 

This Festival and its Season seem to be designed 
purposely to develop and reveal a definite proposi- 
| tion. He Who has come, born a Babe in Bethlehem, 
\/conformed to the Law, given a human Name, He it 


THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 63 


is Who has been promised of old, the Christ of God; | 
but this Messias is Lord indeed, ‘“‘God of God, Light | 
of Light, Very God of Very God,” and now to be | 
manifested in all the Divine Glory; Son of Man, 
but Son of God; shrouded in the flesh but the efful- | 
gence of the Divine bursting through to reveal Who | 
He is. Steadily this will be developed: manifested 
to the Gentiles and received and acclaimed by them; 
shown in His Baptism, acknowledged and com- 
mended by the Father; revealed at the Marriage at 
Cana, the first of His Signs, manifesting His glory, 
and His disciples believed in Him; and so one mani- 
festation is added to another until the Season ends, 
is completed, in the burst of the Glory of the Trans- 
figuration—“This is My beloved Son.” As the Sea- 
son began so it ends; but with this filling our hearts 
we pass over into the Season of the Humiliation, 
hearing still—‘‘This is My beloved Son... in Whom 
I am well pleased ... hear ye Him.” 

That this is true, hear the voice of the Introit: 
“Behold the Lord, the Ruler, hath come: and the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, are in His 
hand.” “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and 
the glary of the Lord is risen upon thee,” sings back 
the H’'pistle. Here is an ushering in of this majestic 
Festival in tones of uplifting joy and praise. The 
Epistle is a passage from the Old Testament; some- 
thing very seldom met with in the course of the 
Year; its joyful promise, its far-reaching prophecy, 
its all-revealing comfort, its telling of the coming 
of the Gentiles, connect it with the spirit of the 
Day; but it is here as fulfillment as well as an- 
nouncement. It is answer to the Introit, as well as 
finger pointing to the approaching caravan of the 
Magi as they draw near to Jerusalem, following the 
star. And then they come! The Gospel carries 
the narrative. How gladly we read it and follow 


64 THE CHURCH YEAR 


their search for the King—‘Behold, the Ruler hath 
come.” He is here!—but they find—“the young 
Child”—“and fall down and worship Him’—and 
open their treasures—and present their gifts. “All 
they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold 
and incense; and they shall show forth the praises 
of the Lord.” 


Mark the contrast in the Gospel—“His own’”— 
of course the “expectant” Israel—they know Who 
is meant when the Wise Men ask; they know where 
He is to be found!—but do they go? Epiphany to 
them? But the Gentiles come to the Light, and 
kings to the brightness of His rising! Small won- 
der that this Day has, since early times, marked the 
call and the coming in of the Gentiles—the 
heathen, and that “Foreign Missions” find such a 
welcome place in this Season. 


The Gradual deserves especial notice. Its prov- 
ince is to act as a connecting link between the read- 
ing of the Epistle and the reading of the Gospel. 
It is supposed to draw an element from each, to 
conclude the one, to introduce the other; and in a 
brief sentence, connect, fuse, harmonize, the two. 
As a well-nigh perfect example of what a Gradual 
is intended to be and do, that of today is outstand- 
ing. Note its connection with the Epistle in the 
first verse, and how it concludes it; they are yet to 
come!—but in its second verse, are both elements; 
and in its third, which directly leads into the 
Gospel still to be read—“We have seen His star— 
we have come with our gifts”! 


The Collect brings the practical application of 
the Day’s teaching. Its very beautiful harmony 
with both Lections is self-evident. Like most 
Feastday Collects, it makes the ground of its peti- 
tion a recitation of the historic Event commem- 
orated. Its petition based on this carries the faith- 


THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 65 


ful one who has found his Lord, ‘‘who knows Him 
now by faith,” not through the manifestation led 
to by a star, but the revelation of all-giving Love 
in the darkness of the Cross, to the fruition of His 
glorious Godhead,—faith and fruition,—for the 
original of the last clause of the Collect reads, 
“that we may be led on till we come to gaze upon 
the beauty of Thy Majesty.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, based on Mal. 3:1 
Psalm, Psalm 72:1 


Collect: Deus qui hodierna die Unigenitum tuum gentibus 
stella duce revelasti! concede propitus, ut qui iam te ex 
fide cognovimus, usque ad contemplandam speciem tuae 
celsitudinis perducamur, per eundem. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, for Epiphany. 


Gradual: Isaiah 60:6; Isaiah 60:1; Matthew 2: 2. 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER AV Ler id 
EPIPHANY 


Introit: I saw also the Lord, sitting upon a throne: high 
and lifted up. 

And I heard the voice of a great multitude, saying: Alle- 
luia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. 

Psalm: Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands: 
Serve the Lord with gladness. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee, mercifully to receive the 
prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that 
they may both perceive and know what things they ought to 
do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill 
the same; through... 


Epistle: Romans 12: 1-5 Gospel: Luke 2: 41-52 


The heavenly Vision which the prophet saw, and 
which the Introit describes, holds the key to this 
Day’s purpose. The enthroned Lamb in all His 
Glory, before Whom the Heavenly Multitude wor- 
ships and sings its “Alleluia,” Whom all earth’s 
lands are to acknowledge, serve and adore; the 
opened portal of the Realm of the Eternal One— 
“the Lord God Omnipotent”—the prophet’s Theo- 
phany!—; the unalloyed splendor of the glory and 
majesty of God,—of all this the Church sings, “Be- 
hold Him, the Lord come to His temple.” With the 
background of the heavenly Vision she points to 
the Little Lad seated in the midst of the Doctors in 
the Temple at Jerusalem, and adoringly worships 
Him, Lord of lords, and King of kings—‘God in 
Man made manifest.” We are to behold His Glory 
through these Epiphany days, but it is the Glory 
which only shines through on occasion; but it is 
to be seen, and being seen, recognized, “the glory 
as of the Only-begotten of the Father.” 

The Gospel, the only account we have of the 

66 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 67 


growing Lad, naturally finds its place here at the 
point which connects the days of the Infancy with 
the early activities of the Young Man. We expect 
it as long as the Church Year is developing a bio- 
graphical view of that Life. But the Church Year 
is far more than biography; and this Gospel is far 
more than a fortunately preserved incident in the 
youth of our Lord; more than the story of His 
“coming of age” or of a lost and found Lad. “I 
saw the Lord’—“Full of grace and truth.” This 
is E'piphany! Here is a lifting of the veil and a 
shining through of the Glory of the Everlasting 
Son in this Little Lad. Human life indeed,—isn’t 
the Story so human with all its play of emotions? 
—but in it too, the dawn of the consciousness of His 
relation to His Father, revealed in His simple, 
childlike question to His Mother, “Wist ye not that 
I must be about my Father’s business?”—asg if the 
only answer from her could be “Yes” !—ag if she, 
too, knew! Here too, is more than consciousness 
of Who He is; here is consecration of Himself to 
what He is to do!—so simply, so unreservedly, so 
loyally made. Remember it is all revealed in the 
First Word we hear Him speak! Others have 
spoken of Him, acclaimed Him, adored Him, told 
others about Him; but His first recorded Word— 
for us!—“I must be about My Father’s business.” 

While we will find in the Epiphany Gospels 
Christ revealed for us, we will also find the Epistles 
teaching that Christ is to be revealed in us, by us. 
The companion Epistle today carries the Spirit of 
the Little Lad’s wholehearted consecration of Him- 
self to His Father’s business over into our lives, 
and in the light of that Example beseeches us “by 
the mercies of God”—so wonderfully brought home 
to us in the histories of the Days just passed—to 
present our bodies a living sacrifice—the Heavenly 


68 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Temple—the Throne—the Enthroned One—the 
sacrificing Throng—their sacrifice—the Little 
Lad’s—holy, acceptable unto God, which is your 
reasonable service. Can one find any parallel, or 
harmony, in the unquestioning yielding of Himself 
to His Father’s will?—to His earthly Mother?— 
and the Epistle’s exhortation, “that ye may prove 
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will 
of God,” and know that on right relationship with 
God depends our relationship with each other ?— 
that we cannot be in that relationship with God and 
not with each other? As but one of many—“every 
one members one of another’”—‘“one body in Christ” 
__we are to show forth the praise of Him Who has 
called us out of darkness to light. “Serve the Lord 
with gladness” sings the Introvt. This service is 
emphasized in both Gospel and Epistle. The Little 
Lad—to tread the hard way of His life—“I am 
come to do the will of Him that sent Me’—‘‘to seek 
and to save the lost.” Only he who serves God 
truly, can serve his brethren. The one is the source 
from which the other follows. But there can be 
no service of God without sacrifice: this is the 
climax of the service! He who would serve God 
and then his brethren, must “present his body, a 
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God’”—must 
offer himself, must yield himself. Did the Little 
Lad become conscious of this? Did He do it?—and 
to this the Epistle exhorts! ‘Whosoever will save 
his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his 
life for My sake shall find it.” 

Conscious of this the Christian will pray that 
‘he may both perceive and know what things he 
ought to do”’—these the Epistle shows—“and also 
may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the 
same”—for this there is the blessed inspiration 
and example of the Little Lad in the Gospel. 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 69 


Perhaps it would not be far wrong to call the 
Day, The Epiphany of Loving Duty. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 6:1, Revelation 19:6 
Psalm, Psalm 100:1, 2 


Collect: Vota, quaesumus Domine, supplicantis populi tui 
coelesti pietate prosequere ut et quae agenda sunt, videat, 
et ad implenda quae viderit, convalescat, per Dominum. 


Gelasian Sacramentary, where it is appointed for the 
First Sunday post Theophaniam. 


Gradual: Psalm 72:18, 19; Psalm 72:3; Psalm 100: 


b] 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE 
EPIPHANY 


Introit: All the earth shall worship Thee: and shall sing 
unto Thee, O God. 

They shall sing to Thy Name: O Thou Most Highest. 

Psalm: Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: sing 
forth the honor of His Name, make His praise glorious. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who dost govern 
all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplica- 
tions of Thy people, and grant us Thy peace all the days of 
our life, through... 


Epistle: Romans 12: 6-16 Gospel: John 2: 1-11 


The reason for the appointment of this Gospel 
on this Day is found in the eleventh verse: “This 
beginning of miracles”—literally, the first of His 
signs—“did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and mani- 
fested forth His glory; and His disciples believed 
on Him.” The Epiphany in the First Word is im- 
mediately followed with the Epiphany in the Furst 
Sign, specially spoken of as a manifestation of His 
glory, and a cause of faith in Him in His follow- 
ers. And these “signs,” it will be remembered, 
appear in the answer our Lord gave to John the 
Baptist as definite proof of His fulfillment of pro- 
phecy and attest to His claim! In this sense one 
of those who witnessed this First Miracle inter- 
prets and records those we find in his Gospel. 

This miracle revealed our Lord as possessing 
Divine Power, the Power of the Creator. “He who 
had once taken of the dust of the earth and elevated 
it in the order of existence, so that by His breath- 
ing upon it “man became a living soul,’ now mani- 

70 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 71 


fests Himself in flesh of man as the Lord of Cre-- 
ation.” This is the Power, and This is He, Who is 
manifested at the Marriage in Cana of Galilee. The 
humble, newly-arisen Teacher, and His little group 
of peasant followers, changing water into wine; 
“Almighty,” let this word bear its testimony—here 
is God’s Power—“Everlasting,” here is His exist- 
ence—GOD—here is His Name! Does the Introit 
catch up this strain today and extol the wonder and 
glory of Him Who was and is, and is to come, the 
Almighty, the Creator? “They shall sing 1» Thy 
Name: O Thou Most Highest’’—superlative !—but 
we have not language else, even to express the little 
our hearts, our knowledge, comprehend. “Al- 
mighty, Everlasting God, Who dost govern all 
things in heaven and earth’—the Jesus Who was 
called to the marriage. 

However there is something more here in the 
Gospel today, something always present too where 
Jesus is, the Shadow! The Glory is here, resplen- 
dent, pure, majestic, Divine; the Shadow is here, 
enshrouding, foreboding, humiliating. As His 
Ministry begins with His ever ready, understand- 
ing, helpful, sympathy, “rejoicing with them that 
do rejoice’—revealing His heart to man, a glory 
which will be revealed to every heartache and cry 
of need He meets, we are arrested by His word, 
“Mine hour is not yet come’; the Hour to which 
all these lead is known as coming, here; to which 
all these “Signs” point, known now, inevitable; the 
Hour when the “Son of Man shall be glorified.” 
Thus early the Way is pointed out to us too—“His 
disciples believed on Him”—the faith that is needed 
to travel this Way with Him is one born of that 
glorious Revelation, but strengthened and gov- 
erned, tested and purified, ennobled and crowned, 
by faithfully following whithersoever He leadeth! 


72 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Think of that little company called to follow the 
ways of His journeyings—of ourselves—‘‘whither- 
soever Thou goest’’? 

The need for this, which is the Epiphany of 
Christ in the Christian, is made the basis of the 
Epistle’s instruction, and so simply summarized in 
the petition of the Collect for “Thy peace all the 
days of our life’; His peace, “the Peace of God 
which passeth all understanding,” which shall keep 
our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 

The glory of the Christian life, the glory of the 
Lord of the Epiphanies which is reflected in those 
who believe in Him, is the theme which parallels 
in the practical teaching of the Epistles and in the 
manifestations of the Gospels, of this Season. We 
remember that last Sunday’s Epistle showed us the 
first ray of this glory, its beginning ;—the Chris- 
tian’s life is to be an unreserved offering of self to 
the glory of God and devoted love of the brethren. 
Today’s Epistle is the continuation of the same 
chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and 
carries the instruction forward to the next logical 
application. The Christian’s life will reveal his 
Master’s glory in his devoted relation to those in 
the community, both Church and State, in which 
he lives. “Having then gifts differing according 
to the grace that is given to us’—the gifts are of 
God; the Christian recognizes his responsibility, 
and, strengthened by God’s grace, manifests the 
glory of his Master by the good use made of them. 
The ministry, the teaching, the exhorting, the giv- 
ing, the ruling, the showing mercy—these are gifts. 
They are to be used as gifts—with diligence, faith- 
fulness, simplicity, cheerfulness. Love, kindness, 
fervor, patience, constancy in prayer, generosity, 
unity, humility—these are marks of the true fol- 
lower of the Master. Living them, is living Him. 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 73 


“Sing forth the honor of His Name: make His 
praise glorious” (Jnt.). 

The Day’s teaching in the Gospel reveals what is, 
and in the Epistle what is to be, the Epiphany of 
Sympathy. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 66: 4 
Psalm, Psalm 66: 1, 2 


Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui coelestia simul 
et terrena moderaris, supplicationes populi tui clementer 
exaudi, et pacem tuam nostris concede temporibus, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, where it is appointed for the 
Second Sunday post Theophaniam. 


Gradual: Psalm 107: 20; Psalm 107: 21; Psalm 148: 2. 


THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER THE 
EPIPHANY 


Introit: Worship Him, all ye His angels: Zion heard and 
was glad. 

The daughters of Judah rejoiced: because of Thy judg- 
ments, O Lord. i 

Psalm: The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice: let the 
multitude of isles be glad thereof. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, mercifully look 
upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities 
stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty, to help and 
defend us, through... 


Epistle: Romans 12: 16-21 _ Gospel: Matthew 8: 1-13 


It is in the Gospels of the Epiphany Season that 
the progressive teaching of the period is developed. 
Upon them, and in some cases upon them alone, 
will the definite purpose of the Day in the scheme 
of the Church Year depend. The other Propers 
will be found to contribute something to this; at 
times forming a perfect harmony; at others seem- 
ing to parallel, being more in the nature of a com- 
mentary on the Fact rather than in strict harmony 
with it. The Jntroits do not seem to be as expres- 
sive as in other Seasons: their immediate connec- 
tion with a teaching of the Day at best seems tenu- 
ous and confined to a phrase. One must consider 
these as exhibiting during this Season the broadest 
function of the Introit, in that they give a gen- 
eral Festival tone to the Church’s worship, inspired 
by no single Event, but by the great all-revealing 
glory of the Epiphany. For this reason the Introits 
are calls to, and ascriptions of, worship: the wor- 
shiping Church joining her praises with a rejoicing 

74 


THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 75 


creation and an adoring Heavenly Host; and in this 
sense their place in the harmony is assured: ‘“Be- 
hold, the Lord, the Ruler, hath come: and the king- 
dom, and the power, and the glory, are in His 
hand.” 

Then, too, it is to be noted that much in the na- 
ture of stating a theme, the Feast and its Gospel 
announce The Epiphany, the subsequent Sundays 
contributing Epiphanies varying in both character 
and purpose, and developing this general theme 
through them. 

It may be that this Day’s Gospel owes its choice 
to its place in the First Gospel Narrative, where 
St. Matthew records these two Miracles as the first 
which our Lord performed immediately after His 
First Discourse, the Sermon on the Mount. But 
we would like to follow another and new direction 
today. 

In the Gospels of the Epiphanies it is apparent 
that various phases of human life are shown, and 
our Lord in direct relation with these. That of the 
First Sunday after the Epiphany portrays boyhood, 
home life, home duties, parents and children, as 
well as other important teachings; that of the 
Second brings us to a marriage, the joys of life; 
that of today carries us into the despair of human 
woe, misery and disease. Our Lord in meeting each 
of these makes that touch, His fitting into that ex- 
perience of life, His Epiphany! He lives in these 
realities of life; He is not there and aloof from 
them; He shares them; they touch Him, He touches 
them; but His Life is all the more clear and out- 
standing because of the surroundings, because of 
His meeting the problem and answering it, as only 
He could! 


Today’s Epiphany: Our Lord “comes down from 
the mountain” where His wonderful words had 


76 THE CHURCH YEAR 


fallen into hungering hearts, to meet the anguish- 
ing hearts of men, the miseries of life. Ideals, lofty 
aspirations, wonderful, far-reaching, stirring 
Truth with its precious appeal, on the mountain 
side; down in the valley, the stern realities of the 
cry of sin-possessed, diseased humanity, the cry for 
a Saviour! How does He meet it ?—this call of the 
hard, hard things of life? His Epiphany! What 
had the prophet promised of old that He would do? 
—how men would know Him when He had come? 
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings 
unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives; 
—to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give 
unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for 
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of 
heaviness” —‘“‘Go and show John those things which 
ye do see and hear: The blind receive their sight, 
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the 
deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have 
the Gospel preached to them’—His Epiphany! 

Just one thing more: Both leprosy and palsy are 
types of sin; the leper, a Jew; the Centurion and 
his servant, Gentiles. To each of them, J wiil! The 
touch of the Hand—‘“stretch forth the right hand 
of Thy Majesty” (Col.); the instant readiness to 
“come and heal’—“mereifully look upon our in- 
firmities’”’; these are not only manifestations of His 
Glory in the exhibition of His almighty Power, but 
they are the manifestations of that Heart’s com- 
passionate sympathy to all the world of sin-sick 
men burdened with the ills and miseries of human 
flesh. Mercy has come: the Mercy that ministers 
the Love of God. 

The Epistle is the continuation of last Sunday’s 
and concludes the chapter which has given us these 


THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY G7 


three consecutive and logically progressive Epistles 
teaching the Epiphany of the Christ in the Chris- 
tian. It shows very clearly today the “infirmities” 
about which we pray in the Collect, which result 
from sin, and the dangers to which they expose us. 
We need help; we need sympathy; we need heal- 
ing. Does not the Gospel prove His readiness? 
Therefore we pray: “Almighty and Everlasting 
God”—think of the address—almighty—GOD !— 
“mercifully look upon our infirmities”—regard us 
as Thou didst the leper ;—let our need come before 
Thee as did the appeal of the Centurion ;—let our 
“dangers and necessities” find the sympathy of Thy 
tender, compassionate, all-feeling heart. ‘Mercy,’ 
we plead—“Lord, have mercy upon wus! Christ, 
have mercy upon us! Lord, have mercy upon us!” 
—Amen!—“stretch forth the right hand of Thy 
Majesty to help and defend US!” The sentences 
of the ancient Offertory appointed for this Day 
read: “The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. 
The right hand of the Lord is exalted. J shall not 
die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” 
Pray, indeed we may, we must, encouraged by the 
blessed answer of the Gospel; but we too must 
“offer the gift’—there must be glory in our hearts 
and lives. The positive directions of the Epistle 
teach how the Epiphany of the Christ in the Chris- 
tian is in showing mercy—for which he prays, 
which he receives—unto others. The cries which 
we hear, the needs which we see, the lives which 
we touch, are to be heard, seen, and touched, in the 
Spirit of Him Who went about doing good—‘‘Go 
thou, and do likewise.” 


%8 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 97: 7b, 8a, 8b 
Psalm: Psalm 97: 1 


Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, infirmitatem nos- 
tram propitius respice, atque ad protegendum nos dextram 
tuae maiestatis extende, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, Third post Theophaniam. 


Gradual: Psalm 102:15; Psalm 102: 16; Psalm 97:1. 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE 
EPIPHANY 


Introit and Gradual as for The Third Sunday after the 
Epiphany. 


Collect: Almighty God, Who knowest us to be set in the 
midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of 
the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright: 
Grant to us such strength and protection as may support us 
in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; 
through... 


Epistle: Romans 138: 8-10 Gospel: Matthew 8: 23-27 


The proportion of years in which there are more 
than three Sundays after The Epiphany is small: 
becoming smaller still as the date of Easter falls 
earlier. Thus, for example, the full number of 
Sundays for which provision is made in the Com- 
mon Service Book will not be observed until 1943, 
and not again until 1962! As has been observed 
before, the number of Sundays after will vary, de- 
pending upon the date of Easter; but, striking an 
average, it was found that three Sundays after 
represented the most frequent occurrence. Pos- 
sibly because of this and a like variation, for the 
same reason, in the post Trinity Season (post 
Pentecost in the old Service Books) Propers of a 
more general character were provided for possible 
additional Sundays. Thus when an Epiphany Sea- 
son would cover a larger number of Sundays, the 
Trinity Season would be shortened by the same 
number; and vice versa. Anciently the appoint- 
ments of these Sundays were used interchangeably ; 
those that would not be used after Hpiphany would 
be needed for after Trinity use. 

19 


80 THE CHURCH YEAR 


The original appointments seem to have been 
primarily intended for an Epiphany use; and to 
that portion of the Year they are confined in our 
Use, since the Church has made definite provision 
for the final Cycle of the Trinity Season in the 
appointment of Propers strictly in harmony with 
that Season. The only variation from an ancient, 
historic use for this period, appearing in our Serv- 
ice Book, is found on the Sixth Sunday after, which 
Sunday, in our Use, is appointed as The Festival 
of the Transfiguration. Provision for what amounts 
to virtually an annual observance of this very im- 
portant Feast is likewise authorized. The reason 
for this variation and appointment will be found in 
the Notes of that Day. 

It will be noted that the Fourth and Fifth Sun- 
days have their proper Collects, Epistles and 
Gospels, but the Introit is common to both, being 
the same as that of the Third Sunday. The general 
tone of this Introit makes this possible use harmoni- 
ous and, one may also say, saves it from artificial- 
ity: an all too imminent danger in a Season whose 
Sundays are so restrictedly confined to one general 
theme. 

One of the old commentators on the harmony of 
the Church Year finds this Epiphany to be that of 
the Lord of Nature. This may have been intended; 
but did not the Miracle of the Turning of Water 
into Wine give somewhat of that indication? We 
turn rather gladly to the Collect for an indication 
of today’s Epiphany revealed in the Stilling of the 
Tempest. He Whom “the winds and waves obey,” 
at Whose simple word “there was a great calm,” 
He it is Who is revealed as the Saviour of all “set 
in the midst of so many and great dangers.” As 
He was revealed last Sunday as the Saviour of those 
afflicted with the frailties and ills of human flesh, 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 81 


the Healer of sickness, the sympathizing Heart 
“Who knoweth our infirmities,’ so He is revealed 
today as saving perfectly sound and vigorous men, 
who, notwithstanding their health and strength, 
are helpless, hopeless, without Him! The leper, 
the paralytic, cry to Him for help; these men whose 
daily life was on the sea, hardy fishermen—‘“Lord, 
Save us; we perish.” “What manner of Man is 
this?” 

On reading the Epistle and Gospel closely there 
does not seem to be any possible connection between 
them: not even the possibility of forcing one should 
one so desire! But there is connection and rela- 
tionship with the preceding E'piphany Epistles, and 
this finds a logical place in the development of the 
general theme of this Epistolary series. The prac- 
tical instructions to the follower—to those in the 
ship with Him—are very pointedly and “briefly 
comprehended in this saying, Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself.” Such expressions: “We be- 
ing many are one body in Christ, and every one 
members one of another’; “Be kindly affectioned 
one to another”; “Live peaceably with all men’”’— 
have not been mere reiterations of the same ad- 
monition; but have instructed in corporate relation- 
ships of different kinds, and developed very precise 
duties in each. ‘‘Source” there has been, and appli- 
cation of practical kind; but the summary reveals 
the all-pervading inspiration of the obedience to the 
law, but the law of Christ, as revealed and lived by 
Him. Individual commands will govern specific 
needs; but the heart possessed by the real power of 
loving for Christ’s sake, holds the all-inspiring mo- 
tive of service, and reveals Christ in every relation- 
ship of life; not because of the ‘Thou shalt not’’; 
but because of the Christ in us! Oh, this is glori- 
ously ideal! But we acknowledge and pray to Him 


82 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Who was in the ship with His disciples, Whom these 
days show in the lives of every-day men like our- 
selves, Who sees the littleness of our faith when 
trouble and tempest arise, “that because of the 
frailty of our nature we cannot always stand up- 
right in the midst of so many and great dangers.” 
We cannot help but think of our manifest duties 
to “one another,” the dangers, the temptations, the 
“Thou shalt not’s’—and yet we do! “Grant to us 
such strength”’—strong men, rugged men, in the 
boat !—“and protection’—‘“but He was asleep” !— 
“And His disciples—awoke Him—and He rebuked 
the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm” 
—“as may support us in all dangers’—the boat ?— 
or the One in the boat?—“and carry us through all 
temptations’—“Why are ye fearful, O ye of little 
faith?” “Almighty God’—“O ye of little faith!” 
“What manner of Man is this!” 


SOURCES 


Collect: Deus qui nos in tantis periculis constitutos pro 
humana scis fragilitate non posse subsister! da nobis salutem 
mentis et corporis, ut ea, quae pro peccatis nostris patimur, 
te adiuvante vincamus, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary, for the IV post Theophaniam. 


THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER THE 
EPIPHANY 


Introit and Gradual as of The Third Sunday after the 
Epiphany. 


Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy Church and 
Household continually in Thy true religion; that they who 
do lean only upon the hope of Thy heavenly grace may ever- 
more be defended by Thy mighty power; through... 


Epistle: Colossians 3: 12-17 Gospel: Matthew 13: 24-30 


There has been a remarkable variety in the 
Gospels of these Sundays. They have covered a 
very wide range of events. We began at the Manger, 
and have found the Shadow of the Cross; we have 
visited a Little Babe; we have found a Little Lad; 
we have journeyed, companied with a Young Man. 
We have seen the glory of the Star; we have seen 
the Glory of the Only-begotten of the Father; we 
have seen the glory of His sympathy and love. The 
water in the water-pots obeys His will; the tempest- 
tossed water of the sea obeys, calms at His rebuke. 
His Power creates, His Power heals, restores; His 
Power controls. We have seen Him learning; we 
have seen Him ministering; we have been with Him 
in the Temple, and in the home; we have gone with 
Him to the house of joy, and with Him have met. 
sorrow on its toilsome, despairing way. And now, 
it is not strange—for do we not expect it too, this 
Season ?—we hear Him teaching. 

Is this to be the Epiphany of the Word?—and,. 
remembering that He is the Word, will not this 
Gospel teach the ultimate triumph of the Word in 
the face of all opposition? The Parable of the 

83 


84 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Tares and the Wheat as an Epiphany Gospel re- 
veals Him as the Lord of the Church for her gov- 
ernment as well as her preservation; and sets forth 
His glory in her increase, and the development of 
that Kingdom on earth which is to be eternal in the 
heavens; and, even though evil comes and enters 
therein, it shows that even when He seems to be 
permitting what He might easily prevent, His pur- 
pose is still full of love for His own, lest the wheat 
should be harmed by the destruction of the tares. 
That this is the center of our Sunday’s teaching, 
the Collect witnesses in that it prays that “His 
Church and MHousehold’—literally, family,—‘‘be 
kept continually in His true religion’”—‘“defended 
by His mighty power,” guarded against the invad- 
ing, choking growth of the Tares, evil. The prom- 
ise of His defence is there, for are they not to be 
separated first at the harvest and destroyed, and 
the Wheat to be garnered? 

The “elect of God” of the Epistle, “holy and be- 
loved,”? the Wheat, the Church, of the Gospel, col- 
lectively today, the Communion of Saints, praying 
to be ‘“‘kept in His true religion,” in the Collect, 
hears what that is. The relationships, one with 
another, are put on the basis of that ever shown 
quality of the Master: mercies, kindness, humble- 
ness, meekness, longsuffering, forebearance, for- 
giveness. The motive as we have already learned 
by inference, is now stated: “Even as Christ for- 
gave you, so also do ye”; but there is added “the 
bond of perfectness, charity’—love, in which this 
union is to be perfected. Follow the admonitions: 
“As Christ forgave”—forgive; “Let the peace of 
God rule in your hearts”—can there be peace where 
there is disunion?—can there be union without a 
“bond” ?—can there be a “bond” of man’s devising? 
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all 


THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 85 


wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in 
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with 
grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Here we need 
to remember the Gospel and the ‘“‘good seed sowed 
in the field.” ‘Do all in the Name of the Lord 
Jesus.” This definite activity precludes the pos- 
sibility of a rival growth. “Do all’’; such “do lean 
upon the hope of His heavenly grace’’; such will be 
“defended by His mighty power.” The Epiphany 
of the Possessed Heart—Christ in the Christian! 


SOURCES 


Collect: Familiam tuam, quaesumus Domine, continua 
pietate custodi, ut quae in sola spe gratiae coelestis innititur ; 
tua semper protectione muniatur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, for V p. Theophaniam. 


THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR 
LORD 


Introit: The lightnings lightened the world: the earth 
trembled and shook. 

Psalm: How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts: 
ae he longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the 

ord. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of 
Thy Only-begotten Son, hast confirmed the mysteries of the 
faith by the testimony of the fathers, and Who, in the voice 
that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful man- 
ner foreshow the adoption of sons: Mercifully vouchsafe to 
make us co-heirs with the King of His glory, and bring us 
to the enjoyment of the same; through the same... 


Epistle: II Peter 1: 16-21 Gospel: Matthew 17: 1-9 


This Festival has been observed in different sec- 
tions of the Church on various days since very 
early times. In 1457, Calixtus III ordered its uni- 
versal observance on August 6th in commemoration 
of the victory of Capistran and Hunyadi over the 
Turks at Belgrade on August 6, 1456. This is the 
date observed in the Roman and Anglican com- 
munions. 

Its observance, as appointed in our Calendar, on 
the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, is distinctively 
a Lutheran use, and dates from Reformation times. 
The very definite Rubric of the Common Service 
Book (p. 67, Text Ed.) appointing this commemo- 
ration for the Last Sunday of this Season, except- 
ing when there is but one Sunday following the 
Feast, provides for a celebration that is almost 
annual; and at the same time has a very definite 
purpose in view. 

The Epiphany Season and the Sundays thereof 
are in the scheme of the Church’s Year, to demon- 

86 


THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD 87 


strate that He Who has come, Who was born into 
the world a Little Babe, Who grew to the Young 
Lad, then to Young Manhood, and Who was seen 
and known of men in the walks and relations of 
common daily life, is God of God, Light of Light, 
Very God of Very God—‘“‘God in Man made mani- 
fest.” Also it is to show that wondrous process 
whereby, in the love of God, this Jesus is saving 
His people from their sins. There are many things 
we can but see and not understand; but there are 
many steps in that Life that are illuminated by such 
a purpose as the Church Year unfolds in a Season 
such as H'piphany. Sunday after Sunday adds to 
the manifestations, not so much numbers thereof 
as instances, rather in degree, till we reach the 
Transfiguration Mount and there behold the Climax 
of Epiphanies; and this Sunday, the last of the Sea- 
son, being that immediately before the preparation 
season of the Passion, accords with the historic 
place of the Transfiguration in our Lord’s Life. 
He descends from the Mount, having heard, and 
heartened by, the Voice out of the Cloud, “This is 
My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased”; and 
He sets His face to go up to Jerusalem—and His 
Passion. 


With this ever before us, we too, enter the Days 
and Hours of the Holy Passion: down into the 
Valley through the gloom and agonies, to climb with 
Him the Other Hill, and at the Cross to know “Who 
hangs and suffers there,” and why! ‘Jesus’! 

The tone of the Propers is naturally historic. Ob- 
serve the two elements in the Introit: the whole 
wondrous Event flashes before our eyes at the Anti- 
phon; while the Psalm senses the true desire of 
tabernacling with God. 

The Gospel records the simple narrative of the 
transcendant Fact; and one of the privileged three 


88 THE CHURCH YEAR 


who were in this holy place, and who there too 
acted so impetuously, bears unique testimony in 
the Epistle, the eye-witness. He who saw what he 
testifies, can and does, add the word Divine. 

The Collect, not only recites the historic Event 
commemorated, but looks backward and forward; 
back to the “mysteries” only to be revealed by a 
faith simple and true, back to the sure word of 
testimony of the eye-witnesses; forward to the ful- 
fillment of the Purpose of the Coming and His reve- 
lation to men. That Voice said, “Thou art My Son,” 
but through Him and in Him comes to us, “Now 
are ye... sons’—co-heirs with the King! “My 
soul longeth .. . for the courts of the Lord” —“Make 
us co-heirs with the King of His glory, and bring 
us to the enjoyment of the same.” 

The older the Collect is, the shorter and more 
concise in expression it is also. This Collect, one 
of the youngest in the Use of the Church, is directly 
the opposite, being quite lengthy for a Collect, and 
having a rather involved style. Note the two 
grounds for the Petition, and the parallel construc- 
tion running throughout. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 77: 18b, c 
Psalm, Psalm 84:1, 2a 


Collect: Deus, qui fidei sacramenta, in Unigeniti tui 
gloriosa Transfiguratione patrum testimonio roborasti, et 
adoptionem filiorum perfectam, voce delapsa in nube lucida, 
mirabilite praesignasti: concede propitius; ut ipsius regis 
gloriae nos cohaeredes efficias, et ejusdem gloriae tribuas 
esse consortes. Per eumden Dominum. 


This Collect enters the Use of the Church in 1456-7. Since 
then it has appeared in all Service Books. 


Gradual: Psalm 45: 2a, b; Psalm 110: 1; Psalm 96: 2, 3— 
modified. 


SEPTUAGESIMA 


Introit: The sorrows of death compassed me: the sorrows 
of hell compassed me about. 

In my distress I called upon the Lord: and He heard my 
voice out of His temple. 

Psalm: I will love Thee, O Lord my Strength: The Lord 
is my Rock and my Fortress. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee favorably to hear the 
prayers of Thy people: that we, who are justly punished 
for our offences, may be mercifully delivered by Thy good- 
ness, for the glory of Thy Name; through... 


Epistle: I Corinthians 9: 24—10: 5 .Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 


The name of the Sunday suggests its relation to ° 
Easter toward which the Church is now reckoning. 
This and the following Sunday, Sexagesima, are 
rather loosely named, as the one is neither seventy 
days nor the other sixty days from Easter; al- 
though Quinquagesima, the third of the pre-Lent 
Sundays, is exactly the fiftieth day before Easter. 
The names of these Sundays are usually ascribed 
to the fact that they fall in the sixth and seventh 
decades before Easter. Thus Septuagesima would 
mean the Lord’s Day within seventy days of Easter. 

There did not seem to be any universal rule in 
the early period of the Church either as to the 
length, or manner, of the Lenten Fast. One of 
medieval writers states that the monastic orders 
began the Fast with Septuagesima, the Greek 
Church with Sexagesima, and the secular clergy 
with Quinquagesima. There did appear much em- 
phasis on a forty-day period, a Quadragesima, in 
imitation of our Lord’s Fast in the Wilderness; and 
as one or another of the classes mentioned might 

89 


90 THE CHURCH YEAR 


omit, as for example the monastics, Sundays, 
Thursdays and Saturdays, from the Fast, naturally 
the fast period would be lengthened. Thus in one 
case at least the beginning of this period would be 
thrown back to Septuagesima, in order to include 
forty fast days. 

Septuagesima introduces a new devotional period, 
preparatory to Lent, and almost Lenten in depth 
and seriousness of spiritual tone. This distinct 
change in the spirit of the Church Year is instantly 
apparent. These three Sundays are not a little 
bridge intended to span what would otherwise be a 
marked break between the Hpiphany Season and 
Lent; but, being thoroughly pre-Lenten in tone, 
have a purpose distinctly their own while leading 
up to, preparing for, Lent. 

When we read the Propers of these days we can- 
not help but be impressed with the penitential 
spirit. The Epistle of Septuagesima strikes a note 
that rings and echoes through the entire Season: 
the race, the fight, with the prize held out—‘“so run 
that ye may obtain.” Unfortunately the spirit of 
the contest, that the prize held out is to be won 
only by most rigorous effort, does not fail to find 
place in what many have considered one of the chief 
objectives of the Lenten days. To them it becomes 
a period of self-immolation in order to merit re- 
ward: to please God with externals; but that can- 
not be the lesson of these days when we are com- 
panying with the Man of Sorrows. 

The true keynote for this whole period is heard 
in two phrases of the Septuagesima Collect: “We 
(who) are justly punished for our offences’— 
“mercifully delivered by Thy goodness, for the 
glory of Thy Name.” There are expressions here 
worthy of emphasis: “justly,” deservedly, merited ! 
—‘‘offences,” sins standing out in the brilliant, all- 


SEPTUAGESIMA 91 


revealing Light of the Man of Sorrows; naturally 
“punished” will be coupled therewith, here is a 
different kind of merit! Vivid consciousness of the 
relation between sinner, sin and God, holy, pure but 
just, is to be most thoroughly, minutely and cura- 
tively developed. Were one to pause with only the 
first emphasis of that, the despairing cry of the 
first verse of the Introit would stand alone, and 
would be most literally true—‘“‘The sorrows of death 
compassed me: the sorrows of hell compassed me 
about.” The word “sorrows” is worthy of deep 
thought, not torments, or punishments, or deserved 
rewards, but sorrows, the anguishes of mind and 
soul, the too-lates with all their train ou realiza- 
tions! One could not imagine a deeper wail or 
more utter despair—the soul that has sinned, that 
has thrown God away to go its own way, and the 
realization of the end of that choice!—‘“the sorrows 
of death—the sorrows of hell!” This is a descrip- 
tion of sin not intended for a worldling but for 
those in the fold! 

While the Church drives home this terrible warn- 
ing, she must couple with it the comfort which she 
dare not fail to minister: comfort which is two- 
part, showing the way back, and the reception 
awaiting the penitent. Why, these very days which 
we are entering are filled with it, proving it, lead- 
ing to the great Guarantor of Divine justice and 
ministering mercy. So the second verse of the 
Introit raust follow: “In my distress I cried unto 
the Lord” (personal pronoun) “and He heard my 
yoice out of His temple’—‘“punished for our of- 
fences” indeed, but ‘mercifully delivered”— 
“through Jesus Christ, our Lord’—how eloquent 
here—‘“for the glory of Thy Name.” 

It is well we have this keynote struck so emphat- 
ically, that it rings out so clearly over against the 


92 THE CHURCH YEAR 


false conceptions which many hold concerning the 
coming Lenten days. It is of grace, not of merit. 
We are not able to find the way by any means of 
our own, or to discharge the debt, or to earn or 
merit sufficient even to mitigate the justly due pun- 
ishment. Perhaps some would isolate the little 
phrase “so run that ye may obtain’”—emphasizing 
the running to obtain, and center the whole thought 
there, as though by self-discipline, fasting, and 
other meritorious practices one were to earn a re- 
ward. 

We are running the race, fighting the fight, 
(Epistle) ; working in the vineyard, bearing the 
burden and heat of the day (Gospel) ; and we are 
doing it with a purposeful end in view, an all-ani- 
mating one, to win ‘“‘the crown,” to receive “the 
penny” at the end of the day. It looks almost like 
earning, doesn’t it?—the rigor of effort, the con- 
centration of purpose, the devotion of energy, the 
spending of strength, the crowning of continuing 
will to accomplish! But it all must be in the spirit 
of the blessed Word. The prize is set before us, 
not of an ending of the Lenten Fast well lived, 
faithfully, devotedly, perseveringly lived: the prize 
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the privi- 
lege of answering the call of the Householder to 
work for Him in His vineyard. 

While this brings a needed lesson which teaches 
self-analysis and the necessary application of 
methods in life (even though they be external, like 
fasting, self-denial) that will create a habit of life 
in keeping with our holy calling, the messages today 
are for more than these days only; they are for all 
days to come: to learn now, that we never forget. 
“So run that ye may obtain’—“I run, not as un- 
certainly—lI fight, not as one that beateth the air— 
I keep under by body, bring it into subjection’— 


SEPTUAGESIMA 93 


that is the real story of self-knowledge, self- 
discipline, self-mastery; but definitely, for the “in- 
corruptible crown.” And I must strive with every 
resource of my being called into the effort, for 
there remains, after all, possibility of being a cast- 
away. There is no guarantee, no assurance, simply 
because I say, I am a Christian, or because I am in 
the race, or because I am in the vineyard, or I do, 
or strive, or labor, or bear! Mark well the close of 
the Epistle, the sad history of Israel in the Wilder- 
ness: God’s own people, yet with many of them He 
was not well pleased! 

The Gospel, the Parable of the Laborers in the 
Vineyard, will complete this Day’s most earnest 
warning. How simply it teaches us that we are 
not acquiring merit when we serve God, put it in 
whatever simile one will: the race, the fight, the 
work—even though we bear the burden and heat 
of the day. Self-discipline must not breed self- 
righteousness, but humility and gladness in bear- 
ing. We are but doing our duty; and that which 
is asked of us, is the best use of all our facilities 
“for the glory of His Name.” It is not our merit 
which moves God’s mercy, but our need. It is His 
answer to our necessity; His supply which inspires 
our service. Again mark the close of the Gospel 
as we marked the close of the Epistle, “Many be 
called, but few chosen.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 18: 5, 6 
Psalm, Psalm 18:1, 2 


Collect: Preces populi tui, quaesumus Domine, clementer 
exaudi, ut qui iuste pro peccatis nostris affligimur, pro tui 
nominis gloria misericorditer liberemur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, for Septuagesima. 

Gradual: Psalm 99: 9, 10; Psalm; 99:18; Psalm 99: 19a. 


Tract: Psalm 130: 1, 2a. 


SEXAGESIMA 


Introit: Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord: arise, cast 
us not off for ever. 

Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face: and forgettest our 
affliction? 

Our soul is bowed down to the dust: arise for our help and 
redeem us. 

Psalm: We have heard with our ears, O God: our fathers 
have told us what work Thou didst in their days. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord God, Who seest that we put not our trust 
in anything that we do: Mercifully grant that by Thy power 
we may be defended against all adversity; through... 


Epistle: II Corinthians 11: 19—12: 9 Gospel: Luke 8: 4-15 


Sexagesima: the Lord’s Day within sixty days of 
Easter. 

This Sunday brings an example of how the 
Church of the Reformation has purified, “re- 
formed,” some of the unevangelical teachings in 
the old Church Year without disturbing an historic 
Use. It must be remembered that the name, The 
Church of the Reformation, describes one of the 
far-reaching activities of the movement within the 
Church at that period. This was the reformation 
of customs and practices as well as doctrine: refor- 
mation in the externals, for example, worship; but 
the process was not a new building or a new out- 
fitting in that sphere of the Church’s life. It was 
a cleansing of the existing customs and practices 
and rituals of all such things as did not contribute 
to true devotion or exemplify pure doctrine, in a 
word were not Evangelic. Here is an example. 
The ancient Collect, appointed for this Day, con- 
tained an invocation of the protection of St. Paul. 
This was not cast aside, but turned into proper 

94 


SEXAGESIMA 95 


form. The desire was not to destroy, or displace, 
but to preserve, ancient Use, custom and ritual as 
it had been anciently, pure. 


Upon this Day, St. Paul was signally honored, 
for just what special or historical reason does not 
appear ; but he is held up by the Church on all three 
pre-Lenten Sundays as a most illustrious example, 
whose life and words and works are especially in 
point in this Season of self-searching and self-con- 
secration. Thus he teaches self-denial in the Epistle 
of Septuagesima; zeal of service, and suffering, for 
Christ’s sake in that of today; and in that of Quin- 
quagesima, he appears as the teacher, whose won- 
drous “Song of Love” teaches that all this, dis- 
cipline, self-sacrifice, burning zeal, without the 
fervor of love, is nothing, profiteth nothing. If 
those who find so much in the thought of “merit 
would only grasp the union of “love” and “profiteth” 
in the glorious Epistle! 

Today he is doubly honored. Have we not that 
long Epistle (the longest in all the Year), filled 
with an enumeration of his fastings, sufferings, 
privations (reminds us of the burdens and heat of 
the day; makes us stop and ponder, do some com- 
paring, when we think of the “sacrifices,” the marks 
and works of penitence, we prescribe for self’s do- 
ing these days!). Have we not the bursting of the 
Realm of Glory, with visions and revelations? 
Then, too, the ancient Collect contained a direct 
reference to him, not originally a direct appeal to 
him, but one for his protection. It read: “Merci- 
fully grant that by the protection of the Teacher 
of the Gentiles we may be defended against all ad- 
versity.” The Collect has been revised and re- 
tained, for its teaching is one stone in the mosaic 
of the Day’s lesson. 


The Apostle speaks to the Church in the Epistle 


96 THE CHURCH YEAR 


with all his fervor, but also with all his deep, deep 
humility. Glory? He? “I will rather glory in my 
infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon 
me”—and that is the Day’s teaching, Humility, the 
Christian’s; to this add the fortitude, the courage, 
of the burden bearer, in order that the lesson of the 
true Source of strength may be learned. 


Here too, the Introit contributes its note, that of 
the humble—persistent—pleading voice of the 
persevering, hoping bearer. Here, too, the Collect 
finds its source. “O Lord God” (note the address) 
“Who seest that we put not our trust in anything 
we do.’ Let us emphasize the we’s and the our as 
we think of St. Paul—and when we pray. Let us 
repeat that phrase—“Who seest ... that we... put 
not our trust ...in anything we do’—is that 
literally, absolutely, always true? 

To cleanse our thought utterly of what we have 
borne or what we have done, we need this eloquent 
comparison. Perhaps our trials and sacrifices do 
loom large in our memories of those unforgetable 
hours; perhaps our deeds do seem worthy; but in 
comparison with—St. Paul?—‘“in labors more 
abundant, in fastings, in perils, in weariness, in 
stripes” —?—in comparison with our precious Com- 
panion—on the Way to the Cross? When we pray, 
when we come to God, ask of Him and strive to 
learn how to “glory in my infirmities,” we need 
“the honest and good heart” into which the Seed 
has fallen, to be kept to bring forth fruit with 
patience! So the Gospel finds its precious place: 
our Lord’s Parable of the Sower and the four kinds 
of ground where the Seed falls. 

In our Collect we pray that ‘“‘we may be defended 
against all adversity,” the adversity which every 
one of these days is emphasizing, which, in them, 
we are to learn to guard against. This the Gospel 


SEXAGESIMA 97 


pictures so clearly: the temptations of the world, 
the flesh, and the devil; the pre-empted heart, the 
already occupied heart, the shallow heart, the 
divided heart; for we know the one sure Source of 
Truth, of guidance, of promise, of safety—the 
Word, the Gospel. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 44: 23, 24, 25a, 26 
Psalm, Psalm 44:1 


Collect: Deus qui conspicis quia ex nulla nostra actione 
confidimus! concede propitius, ut contra adversa omnia 
doctoris gentium protectione muniamur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary, for Sexagesima. 


Gradual: Psalm 83:18; Psalm 83: 13. 
Tract: Psalm 60: 4. 


QUINQUAGESIMA 


Introit: Be Thou my strong Rock: for an house of defence 
to save me. 

Thou art my Rock and my Fortress: therefore for Thy 
Name’s sake lead me and guide me. 

Psalm: In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never 
be ashamed: deliver me in Thy righteousness. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully hear our pray- 
ers, and, having set us free from the bonds of sin, defend 
us from all evil; through... 


Epistle: I Corinthians 13: 1-13 Gospel: Luke 18: 31-43 


This is the last of the three pre-Lenten Sundays, 
the Lord’s Day within fifty days of Haster, in this 
case, the fiftieth day before. It is also called Esto 
mihi from the opening words of the ancient Latin 
Introit: Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, etc. 

It does not require any lengthy search to discover 
the teaching of the Day—Love—but love in all its 
glory and wonder; the Love of God to man, the love 
of man to God, and in Him to his fellow-men, his 
brethren. 

The Church has provided a set of Propers for 
this Day which, in point of teaching, in harmony 
with the days which are opening to us, and in de- 
veloping an historical touch with the actual begin- 
ning of the Journey to Jerusalem and with Events 
soon to be re-lived, cannot be equaled. It is of in- 
terest to note that St. Augustine (354-430) used 
this Day’s Epistle and Gospel, harmonizing them in 
a sermon which was preached at the beginning of 
the Quadragesima, the Forty Days—Lent. This 
witnesses to the very ancient use of these two par- 

98 


QUINQUAGESIMA 99 


ticular Lessons at this time in the Church Year as 
Service appointments. 

The cry of the Church in the Introit: “Be Thou 
for me’’—one dare emphasize that as the cry of the 
longing, needy, conscious, suppliant, pleading that 
He will show a gracious disposition to him, “for 
me,” for he knows he has the power (Epiphany!). 
Then, too, there is that in it which the German 
word Stellvertreter expresses, to take one’s place, 
to assume one’s burden or need; but above all there 
is in it the refuge-seeking cry of the sin-beset, the 
enemy-driven, for the strong Rock, for the House 
of Defence, for the Fortress—“to save me.” This 
cry is put into the very soul of the worshiper today, 
with it he begins his journey to the Cross and 
the Resurrection Morn—the ery for salvation! 

If these Sundays past have taught their lessons 
through the self-examination that resulted in the 
devoted heart, one has found one’s place. There 
is no mistaking it. One knows just where one 
stands, what one is, what the true values are, here 
at the Gateway to the Passion, if one is to journey 
with Him. Be Thou for me—Salvation. This is to 
be ever in mind for “Behold, we go up to Jerusa- 
lem, and all things that are written by the prophets 
concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. 
For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall 
be mocked and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 
and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: 
and the third day he shall rise again.” Thus the 
announcement of the Journey to the Cross in the 
Gospel; not the Church’s, but our Lord’s own, and 
behold, He goeth before. And thus we begin our 
Lent in His fellowship, following Him. But this is 
Love—only read the Epistle again in the light of 
this; see how one thing and another flames out!— 
“bestow all my goods”—“give my body’—“suffer- 


100 THE CHURCH YEAR 


eth long”—‘“vaunteth not’—‘“seeketh not her own” 
—__“beareth—endureth—all things’—‘“never  fail- 
eth.” 

Two things must be learned, if that fellowship 
is to be real, if the journey is to be of eternal bless- 
ing. The first step leads to Jericho’s Gate, and be- 
hold, a Blind Man sitting by the wayside begging— 
begging !—one cannot escape the cry of the Introvt, 
“Be Thou for me”’!—‘“Jesus, Thou Son of David, 
have mercy on me!” “Be Thou for me... to save 
me. For Thy Name’s sake lead me and guide me” 
—the blind man! “In Thee, O Lord, do I put my 
trust: deliver me in Thy righteousness.” If one 
only will bring this blessed story to one’s self, carry 
home the cry, the fact; for it is not an overdrawn 
figure, nor mystical interpretation to see in blind 
Bartimeus one’s self at the Gateway to the Pas- 
sion. If it be not the Love of God which gives us 
sight, Calvary will be in vain! For that word of 
the Cross is mystery supreme to the natural man, 
foolishness to the Gentile, stumbling-block to the 
Jew—the Sealed Book—spiritual blindness. But 
Jesus opens the Blind Man’s eyes because he 
begged! Ministering Love, the Love that gives of 
Himself to the hungering cry, the Love that finds 
its unspeakable glory on the Throne of the Cross— 
that for me!—that I may see. 

We are to see and know this motive of God’s giv- 
ing, His Son (John 3:16; Rom. 5: 8) ; of His giv- 
ing in His Life and Death for us (John 15: 1S 
and it is this grace of all graces that is to fill our 
hearts as we enter and use these days: for without 
it all our devotions will be vain. “I am nothing’— 
without it. 

If we read what our Lord’s Love has carved over 
the Gateway to the Passion; if we see what our 
Lord’s Love accomplished there at the wayside, our 


QUINQUAGESIMA 101 


hearts will be in tune to sing the Hymn of Love 
which St. Paul—not St. John, think of it!—sings 
into our hearts; and, as we think of it, think of 
Him—‘“Love never faileth!”—of myself—“and 
have not love’? “For Thy Name’s sake lead me 
and guide me’—‘“defend me from all evil.”’ Lead, 
guide, defend—befriend!—how the Blind Man 
needed this all! Lead, guide, defend, befriend— 
me! 


The Church of the Reformation does not observe 
Lent in the spirit of past custom and ritual. The 
Reformers could not value fasting and penance for 
merit’s sake but only for Jesus’ sake, and as one 
has pointedly written, ‘“‘The end of Lent is not 
merit, but character.”’ With the beginning of these 
days her Services increase, but she centers them in 
the contemplation of the Passion of our Lord. This, 
and this only, is to excite self-examination, self- 
analysis, penitence, and hearty desire to grow in 
grace. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 31: 2b, 3 
Psalm, Psalm 31:1 


Collect: Preces nostras, quaesumus Domine, clementer 
exaudi, atque a peccatorum vinculis absolutos, ab omni nos 
adversitate custodi, per. 


Gradual: Psalm 77:14; Psalm 77:15 
Tract: Psalm 100: 1, 2 


ASH WEDNESDAY, THE FIRST DAY 
OF LENT 


Introit: I will ery unto God Most High: unto God that 
performeth all things for me. 

Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge: 
until these calamities be overpast. 

Psalm: Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: 
for my soul trusteth in Thee. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest noth- 
ing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all 
those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and con- 
trite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and 
acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the 
God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; 
through... 


Epistle: Joel 2: 12-19 Gospel: Matthew 6: 16-21 


The name Lent is probably derived from the 
Anglo-Saxon word for Spring, lencten, German, 
Lenz (Spring), meaning the time when the days 
lengthen. 

Ash Wednesday or Dies Cinerum (Day of ashes) 
is also called Caput jejunti (the head or beginning 
of the fast). 

Two early Church Fathers, Augustine and Ter- 
tullian, tell us that the Lenten Fast originated with 
our Lord’s Apostles. While this is not improbable, 
the statement must be qualified. It is neither the 
Lent nor the Lenten Fast that we know, that is 
meant: for both of these have undergone a long 
process of development before they assumed very 
much of the character familiar to us. 

It is not improbable that the Lenten Fast found 
its origin in the desire of the early Christians to 
perpetuate in the lives of the believers the deep 

102 


ASH WEDNESDAY 103 


sorrow and mourning experienced during those ter- 
rible hours of gloom and anguish when our Lord 
was crucified and lay in the tomb. This latter be- 
ing just forty hours in length gave some point to 
the period of time the fast lasted; for it first 
appears as of but forty hours duration. But as that 
first sorrow gave place to the great joy in the 
Resurrection, the restoration of their Lord to them, 
so it naturally became a period of devout Deena 
ation for this most holy commemoration. am 
From this the idea of a preparatory fast devel- | 
oped. Early there is added to it a deep sense of what — 
brought about our Lord’s Crucifixion; and then 
it was not a very far journey to the idea of individ- 
ual sin and responsibility, and therefore self- 
discipline and definite works of contrition. We 
dare never lose sight of the natural reasons under- 
lying these commemorations; the beginnings are 
all such, the loving memorials of that band of early 
believers. Time adds many another touch; but 
shorn of these, the original remains an expression 
of true devotion, eloquent, sincerely purposeful. 
Soon the brief period is extended; it covers the 
entire week, so rich in memories. Then it grows 
to two weeks, reckoning from the certain Event in 
the Gospel wherein the outward enmity of the Jews 
is very markedly shown. A remembrance of this 
still remains in the Church Year, Passion Sunday, 
and the Gospel of that Day. However those who 
found so much in symbolism and mystical interpre- 
tation could not pass by the series of Forties: The 
Forty Hours, the Forty Days of the Temptation 
in the Wilderness, etc. So the period of the Fast 
and strictness in other externals was lengthened 
to forty days, and called the Quadragesima. This 
or rather the beginning of it was reckoned in sev- 
eral ways in different sections of the Church, and 


104 THE CHURCH YEAR 


in different communities of the Church as the 
numerically named Sundays testify (compare the 
Notes on Septuagesima) ; and the Quadragesima 
was arrived at by the exclusion of certain days each 
week on which the faithful did not fast. The pres- 
ent custom of beginning Lent with Ash Wednesday 
is attributed to Gregory the Great. This period, 
excluding the Sundays, is exactly forty days in 
length; and this gives rise to the expression for 
example, Invocavit, the First Sunday on Lent, but 
not of! While the spirit or keynote of the Sunday 
will be influenced by the tone of the general Season 
in which it falls, its character remains unchanged, 
it is the Lord’s Day, Festival. 

In the early Church, during this period, the cate- 
chumens were prepared for admission into the 
Church by Baptism at Easter. Traces of this prac- 
tice still remain in the Propers of the various 
Lenten Sundays. It was a Season of deep humili- 
ation, of abstinence from social intercourse and 
pleasures. Fasting was rigorously practiced. Fre- 
quent and devout attendance at Divine Worship 
was enjoined. It was, and should be still, a Season 
of deep penitence and mourning for one’s sin. This 
is typified in the Liturgical Color of the Season, 
Purple, the Church’s color of mourning. 

When we read the Propers for Ash Wednesday, 
it will be seen immediately that Introit, Lections 
and Collect have been chosen to conform to the idea 
of the Day and the general purpose of the Season it 
introduces. One will not go wrong in finding the 
center of it all in the announcement of the Epistle, 
“Sanctify a fast.” Its purpose and reasons are 
told right there: its wide application, and its goal, 
or objective. But while this age-old prophecy was 
made to fit into the ancient scheme of Lent, it puts 
an emphasis on the fast and on these days which 


ASH WEDNESDAY 105 


is truly evangelical: “Turn ye even to me with all 
your heart”—‘“Rend your heart and not your gar- 
ments.” The emphasis is where it must be if it is 
to be spiritually worth while: not on the externals, 
but on the heart of man. Here, too, the wonder- 
fully beautiful and comforting Collect enters the 
harmony of the Propers. There are external things 
which will lend themselves to our improvement if 
practiced; deep emotion will find some expressive 
outlet; but the vitality of all this lies in the spirit- 
ualizing of our purpose, of our devotions, of our 
Lenten practices—from the heart. The new and 
contrite hearts of the Collect; the penitent cleansed 
of his sins so humbly acknowledged and “worthily” 
lamented, that the God of all mercy, Who does not 
hate but forgives, will remit and forgive for Jesus’ 
sake. Compare the Introit, especially the Psalm. 

The Gospel is our Lord’s rule for fasting and ex- 
horts to the quest of the eternal treasure. One 
wonders how a work-righteousness could have been 
forced into these Lessons, which are so utterly revo- 
lutionary themselves in declaring a fast so contrary 
to the customary either in Joel’s times or in our 
Lord’s times. Then it was external by rule and 
rite; but here it is in heart and spirit, in secret, 
unseen save of the Father; for it is not of our merit 
but of His grace; not that we earn forgiveness— 
“not by works of righteousness which we have 
done”—but that to Him we may show the broken 
and contrite heart of one who really knows and 
worthily laments, and earnestly seeks forgiveness 
for his sin. 


106 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 57: 2, 1c 
Psalm, Psalm 57: 1a, b 


The Collect, with but two slight verbal changes, is that of 
Ash Wednesday in the English Service Books, originally 
appearing in the Liturgy known as I Edward VI, 1549. It 
probably was prepared by Archbishop Cranmer who may 
have gone back to an ancient Latin Benediction used for the 
Blessing of Ashes on this Day, and in which there are some 
points of possible relationship. 


Gradual: Psalm 57: 1a,b; Psalm 57:3 
Tract: Psalm 103: 10; 79: 9a 


INVOCAVIT, THE FIRST SUNDAY 
IN LENT 


Introit: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I 
will deliver him ‘and honor him. 

With long life will I satisfy him: and show him My sal- 
vation. 

Psalm: He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most 
High: shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord, mercifully hear our prayer, and stretch 
forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to defend us from 
them that rise up against us; through... 


Epistle: II Corinthians 6: 1-10 Gospel: Matthew 4: 1-11 


The Sunday receives its name from the first word 
of the Latin Introit, Invocavit, He shall call. 

Upon this Day in the ancient Church the cate- 
chumens entered upon their final stage of prepar- 
ation for Baptism at Eastertide; and from now on 
each week marks a definite step forward in their 
instruction. Today they are called the Profitentes 
for all the riches of their calling is to be unfolded 
and they are to be taught to be profitable to God. 

Our present series of Lenten Propers has de- 
scended to us unquestionably from this early 
period; and it will readily be seen how the choice 
of the Epistle, and Gospel, for this Day has the 
ecatechumen in mind as well as the great body of 
the faithful who are now engaged in their Lenten 
fast. 

There are two points of departure from which 
a consideration of the Propers should proceed. 
First remembering the Day in the experience of 
the catechumenate. The Epistle brings the clear- 

107 


108 THE CHURCH YEAR 


cut, decisive announcement, ‘‘Now is the accepted 
time: now is the day of salvation’; and calls upon 
those who are giving themselves to God’s service 
as “ministers’—servants—to prove themselves: 
recognizing the earnestness of the decision being 
made; broadly cataloging the experiences, the 
tests, the life stretching before the servant. Re- 
member they are to be profitentes, profitable to Him. 
The Epistle might well be entitled The Christian’s 
Walk: definitely showing the enemy and the char- 
acter of the enmity against them, which constantly 
seek their overthrow; but heartening them with 
the high and holy encouragement that they are 
“workers together with Him”; exhorting, implor- 
ing them “receive not the grace of God in vain” 
but in the spirit of these blessed words, persevere 
and patiently bear all that in Him Who succoreth 
in every temptation those who are faithfully His 
own. 

To this is added the Gospel of our Lord’s Tempta- 
tion, appointed for this Day, not because of any 
artificial connection between the Temptation’s 
length and the length of this period, but because it 
shows Him tempted in all points like as we are yet 
without sin. He Who is to succor us, Who gives 
Himself for us, must not only be victor but sinless; 
must not only conquer but know the depths and 
woes of the struggle; and through the fullness of 
this experience with, dare we say, trials and temp- 
tations that come to the servant too, gives us a sym- 
pathy and love which understand. 

To the one facing life’s way in the Christian pro- 
fession, there is no minimizing the dangers or the 
severity of the trials which lie before him: his life 
will be a testing from every side: world, flesh, 
devil. It will test his will, his body, his heart; his 
loyalty, his love, his faith; but as in the blessed 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 109 


Gospel we see the Victory of our Partner (‘“work- 
ers together with Him’’), so there comes to us this 
precious assurance that the power that cannot con- 
quer Him, cannot conquer us as long as we are 
workers together with Him, as long as we are in all 
things approving ourselves as the ministers—serv- 
ants—of God. 

The Introit is a song of trusting faith. ‘He,’ 
My tried and tempted servant, “shall call upon Me, 
and I will answer him. I will deliver him. With 
long life will I satisfy him, and show him My sal- 
vation.” Just pause to note the joining together 
in these words of the temporal and eternal, of the 
blessings in this earthly life merging now with the 
blessings of the life to come. Add to this the 
Collect. It gives the key to the triumph—‘“He that 
dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall 
abide under the shadow of the Almighty’— 
“Stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to 
defend us’”—that communion of fearless trust and 
faithful confidence, of abiding, dwelling, in Him, 
committing all our ways and needs to Him Who 
has fought and won—‘“His right hand, and His 
holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory’”—Who was 
tempted, but Who conquered. This is an all-inspir- 
ing first lesson in the closer walk with God for the 
catechumen approaching the entering in of the 
Way, for the pilgrim whose days are carrying him 
nearer, nearer—Home—under His shadow—brood- 
ing over us is He, the tempter’s Conqueror! 

This period is also one of penitential self-exami- 
nation for the faithful; and the Epistle will there- 
fore again spread before him the possibilities of 
his walk before God. He will view it from the 
standpoint of the past, seeing his many weaknesses, 
falls and failures. He will analyze it and find much 
that has not been a working together, but a striv- 


110 THE CHURCH YEAR 


ing alone; and much that has not even been striving 
alone but has been betrayal. He will know wherein 
he failed and why! He will see that the calls upon 
him to resist: afflictions, necessities, distresses, 
labors, watchings, fastings, the patience, have 
found him meeting them with diminishing vigor, 
and lacking the power to stand fast—the world has 
been so hard to fight against. He will see that he 
has not measured up to the glories of that life so 
wonderfully declared:-pureness, knowledge, long- 
suffering, kindness, love unfeigned, the Holy Ghost, 
the Power of God, the armor of righteousness— 
the flesh has been so weak, and yet so insistently 
strong in its appeal! He will see how often life 
has tried him, played with his vanity, sneered at 
his ambition, derided his religion, scoffed at his holy 
resolutions, jeered at the very things he claimed 
to be true: deceiver, unknown, dying, chastened, 
sorrowful, poor, having nothing—the devil is ever, 
relentlessly, a deceiver, is ever offering a short cut, 
an easy way, to attainment. Of what?—“all these 
things will I give thee’”—the opposites of all those? 
But with these blessed words he will see all too well 
the reason why he has been so weak, why he has 
fallen. Therefore these holy days to call to remem- 
brance, to purge away the dross, to gain the true 
strength for the life to be lived! Workers together 
with Him, with Him Who was tempted as we are; 
with Him Who succors, Who answers the call for 
help, with Him to live in this accepted time! My 
time of opportunity to serve as never before; to 
prove my ministry; to be found faithful; to have 
nothing as the world, the flesh, the devil, may sneer- 
ingly say, but yet to possess all things—in Him! 


THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 111 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 91: 15, 16 
Psalm, Psalm 91:1 


Collect: Preces nostras, quaesumus Domine, clementer 
exaudi, et contra cuncta nobis adversantia dexteram tuae 
malestatis extende, per Dnm. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 91:11; Psalm 91: 12 
Tract: Psalm 91:1 


REMINISCERE, THE SECOND 
SUNDAY IN LENT 


Introit: Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy 
loving-kindnesses: for they have been ever of old. 

Let not mine enemies triumph over me: God of Israel, 
deliver us out of all our trouble. 

Psalm: Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my 
God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who seest that of ourselves we have no 
strength: Keep us both outwardly and inwardly; that we 
may be defended from all adversities which may happen to 
the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and 
hurt the soul; through... 


Epistle: I Thessalonians 4: 1-7 Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28 


The Sunday receives its name from the first 
word of the Latin Introit, Reminiscere, Remember. 

In preparation for their baptism, the catechu- 
mens have been under daily instruction during the 
week past, meeting perhaps in their catechist’s 
home or in some room in the House of God, for they 
are now called the é&odovueror. This training is 
very methodical and intentionally impressive, and 
purposeful in emphasizing the fact that until they 
are within the safe fold of the Church, they are in 
the company of evil; until born anew in the laver 
of Holy Baptism, they are the slaves of sin, and 
prisoners of the devil, their overlord. One can fol- 
low the steps in the progress of this instruction 
from the teaching of the Propers of this and the 
preceding and the succeeding Sundays. 

Three elements are very carefully developed as 
being the comprehensive types of the full power of 
the evil one, Satan, over his hosts. These, in sum- 
mary, appear in the three several temptations to 

112 


THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 113 


which our Lord was subjected in the wilderness, 
the narrative of which was last Sunday’s Gospel: 
the temptations of the flesh, of the pride of life, of 
trying God’s Providence or desire to go beyond 
God’s will. Parallel to these are the three subjects 
of the earliest instructions given the catechumens; 
and these form the questions of the renunciations 
which the catechumen must make publicly a little 
later on. The remnant of this remains in the pres- 
ent Order for Holy Baptism, in the question, “Dost 
thou renounce the devil and all his works and all 
his ways?”—the answer to it, “Yes; I renounce.” 

The Epistle and Gospel enter into this with con- 
tributions which are perfectly harmonious. They 
may be considered as chosen primarily for this pur- 
pose: to add to the instruction already, and being, 
given the catechumenate; and then to recall pro- 
gressively, the process of instruction through which 
the faithful had passed, and thus excite self-exami- 
nation and bring about its desired effect, penitence 
for failures and a contrite desire for absolution. 
The Lessons in particular develop the twofold pos- 
session of the evil one, spoken of in the Collect 
“outwardly and inwardly,” and in the Epistle in the 
sins of the flesh, the sins of impurity, and in the 
Gospel, the possession of the Little Daughter, the 
possession of the soul. 

Over against this come the positive instructions 
of the Day. The Christian’s walk—this runs 
through all the Epistles of the Season—as shown 
today is to abound more and more. He is to walk 
in holiness. “Ye know what commandments we 
gave you by the Lord Jesus.” Would this not re- 
call the instruction so lately heard? Would it not re- 
call their past experience to the faithful? How to 
walk and please God; and let it be remembered who 
these candidates for reception into the Church of 


114 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Christ were, from what surroundings, what relig- 
ion, what manner of life, they were coming: the 
heathen world with all its immorality and “works 
of the flesh.” That life and the life into which they 
are being prepared to enter, are as opposite as dark 
and light: the soul and life and body possessed of 
evil to become a child of God. Here is the story 
of the pure in heart; and here too, is the story of 
the abounding, conquering faith! The faithful, in 
the light of this Gospel, are spoken of by the old 
commentators on The Liturgy as credentes et 
sperantes, believers and hopers. 

One lingers a bit at the Introit, because one likes 
to treasure the thought stirred by its first word, 
Reminiscere, Remember! There are many things 
we are given to remember: God’s tender mercies 
and loving-kindnesses, how constant they have 
been; but how frequently they have been followed 
by forgetfulness and a falling back into old ways! 
It is well, therefore, to begin this week with an 
humble lifting up of the soul to God in confession, 
using the words of the Collect, “O God, Who seest 
that of ourselves we have no strength” (think of 
the Woman in the Gospel) ; and upon this spread 
before Him the plea which seeks His merciful help 
with a humility, and devout, believing persever- 
ance, like that of the Syro-Phcenecian—“Keep us 
both outwardly and inwardly that we may be de- 
fended from all adversity which may happen to the 
body, and from all evil thoughts (Epistle!) which 
may assault and hurt the soul.” Think quietly, 
slowly: outwardly,—adversities,—happen,—body ; 
inwardly,—evil thoughts,—assault and hurt,—soul. 
“Tf God be for us, who can be against us?” 

With this help assured, the E’pistle’s exhortation 
to “abound more and more” will be inspiration to 
greater endeavor to “walk and please God.” Hin- 


THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 115 


drances, sins, are many, and not the least are those 
‘which our own humanity throws into the contest; 
and we need to be reminded, especially in these 
days when the world, the flesh and the devil seem 
to delight to force upon us their wiles and tempta- 
tions, to guard the inlets to the soul. Hearken 
therefore to the searching admonitions of the 
Epistle as it pleads for that purity of heart without 
which we will not see God! 

The Gospel visualizes the determined effort of the 
spirit of evil to possess and to defeat the struggle of 
faith. But it is through this sad need that a faith 
which will not take “No,” or rebuff, or delay—a faith 
which confesses, a faith which perseveres—is re- 
vealed as it grows into that mighty power which 
does conquer Christ! Abound more and more! 
Lord, help me!—me! Patient, persistent, all-con- 
quering faith! “Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up 
my soul. O my God, I trust in Thee; let me not be 
ashamed.” “Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 25: 6, 2b 
Psalm, Psalm 25: 1, 2a 


Collect: Deus, qui conspicis omni nos virtute destitui 
interius exteriusque custodi, ut ab omnibus adversitatibus 
muniamur in corpore, et a pravis cogitationibus mundemur 
in mente, per Dnm. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 25:17; Psalm 25: 18 
Tract: Psalm 136: 1 


OCULI, THE THIRD SUNDAY IN 
LENT 


Introit: Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord: for He shall 
pluck my feet out of the net. 

Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me: for I am 
desolate and afflicted. 

Psalm: Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my 
God, I trust in Thee; let me not be ashamed. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, look upon the 
hearty desires of Thy humble servants, and stretch forth 
the right hand of Thy Majesty to be our defence against all 
our enemies; through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 5: 1-9 Gospel: Luke 11: 14-28 


The name of the Sunday is derived from the first 
word of the Latin Introit, Oculi, Eyes. The Day is 
also variously named Dies scrutinit, the day of the 
scrutiny; Dominica abrenunciationis, the Lord’s 
Day of the renunciation ; and Dom. exorcismi, of 
the excorcism. These names are derived from the 
ceremonies of the Day and week in the preparation 
of the catechumens. Upon this Lord’s Day they 
submitted to a very strict and careful scrutiny or 
examination in those things wherein they had been 
instructed thus far, and as to their fitness to pro- 
ceed farther. Having passed this satisfactorily, 
they then submitted to the rite of publicly renounc- 
ing “the devil, and all his pomps, works, and ways.” 
Then, formally, the devil was exorcised, that is, 
commanded to depart from them, called out of 
them. After these ceremonies, the catechumens 
were looked upon as initiatt, initiates, novices; and 
entered too, with the faithful, upon the rigorous 
observances of the Lenten fast. 

116 


THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 117 


These formal rites, carried through with much 
solemn ceremony, and finding their prototype as 
well as the faith in which they were performed in 
the exorcisms in the Gospels, must not be looked 
upon as mere external, liturgical machinery, nor 
as a formal process of intiating candidates into the 
mysteries of the Faith. They must be valued as 
carrying the effects which an external or dramatic 
action (the reason for which is always imparted), 
always exerts; and then as being an outward com- 
mentary, through form or act upon the funda- 
mental, spiritual teaching intended to be indelibly 
impressed upon the heart of the candidate. 

For this reason the Propers, viewed from the 
historic Use, the purpose underlying their selection 
and arrangement, or the association of these cer- 
tain passages of Scripture and prayers with cer- 
tain ceremonies, always are the real center of the 
Spiritual objective of the ceremony and of the Day’s 
teaching. 

Throughout this Lenten period the situation and 
condition of the one outside of the Kingdom has 
ever been shown as being “a slave of sin,” an enemy 
of God, an ally of Satan. The need of release, the 
process whereby this is effected, the power of the 
victory, the entrance into the Kingdom, the re- 
quirements of this allegiance, are not only visual- 
ized in rite and ceremony, but brought home in the 
teaching of the Propers. The progression in the 
Epistles alone witnesses this: for therein is empha- 
sized the Walk of the Christian, each week con- 
tributing something to the description thereof. 

Thus to-day, viewing the candidates as having 
through their exorcism become initiates, the relent- 
lessness of the enemy’s opposition is driven home 
in the precious Gospel of the Day, the Gospel of the 
Stronger. They must be told this in as sharp and 


118 THE CHURCH YEAR 


arresting a way as possible; and they hear it in the 
very words of Christ their Lord. They must real- 
ize this, not only to know what it really is to be 
Christ’s, but to know how constant is their danger. 
The driving out of the evil one through the Power 
of God, leaves them like the house in the Gospel, a 
soul swept and garnished, ready for a possession. 
But unless the Sevenfold Spirit enters in and pos- 
sesses and bars the entrance, the seven evil spirits 
will re-enter to drive down to a lower depth of in- 
famy and evil. There can be no neutrality; there 
is no such thing as an wnpossessed soul!—nor can 
there be a divided house. It is either for or against; 
either gathering or scattering; either Christ’s or 
the devil’s! When one hears this Gospel and then 
hears such words as these in the Rite of Exorcism, 
“Depart, thou unclean spirit and give place to the 
Holy Spirit,’’ would there be any impression in the 
heart of the candidate or the hearer? 

Then, too, the Epistle adds its share to the in- 
struction: Their life, now the walk of a child of 
God, “follower of God,” “inheritor in the kingdom 
of Christ and of God,” is definitely described. They 
are to walk in love after the precious example of 
Christ, in the spirit of whatever sacrifice may be 
demanded: that the walk be faithful, as “children 
of the light,” for their former state of darkness is 
all too well known. To this is added the warning 
of the wrath which falls on the children of disobe- 
dience. One sees all the horrors of the sins to which 
evil possessed hearts give way: the works of the 
flesh, the lures of the evil desires in man, the en- 
ticements of the deceiver with his honeyed words. 
One thinks of the Gospel in contrast with the “man 
deceiving with vain words.” “Blessed are they 
who hear the word of God and keep it.” “Walk as 
children of the light!” 


THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 119 


How pointedly then the Introit, “Mine eyes are 
ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet 
out of the net.’”’? And how completely the little Col- 
lect sums up the whole aspiration of the longing 
child of God whose “hearty desire’ is to walk 
worthily: not in his own strength or reliance, but 
pleading that the Father would look upon his every 
need and “stretch forth the right hand of His 
Majesty (‘If I with the finger of God cast out 
devils!’) to be our defence against all our enemies.” 

For today and the warring Christian, the Sun- 
day has a blessed lesson also. ‘The Son of God 
goes forth to war, a kingly crown to gain!... Who 
follows in His train?’ The Gospel answers with 
the Master’s words, “He that is not with Me is 
against Me: and He that gathereth not with Me 
scattereth.” “Every kingdom divided against itself 
is brought to desolation, and a house divided against 
a house falleth.” 

The call for today is allegiance unswerving, for 
loyalty tried and true; not a fear driven response, 
but a love born patriotism for the heavenly King- 
dom that deliberately counts the cost and as loyally 
and devotedly consecrates the sacrifice. 

The deeper we enter the Lententide, the more 
intense becomes the struggle between sin and 
righteousness, whether it be granted us to see 
it revealed in our Lord’s suffering for us, or in the 
Lessons which the Church uses to turn the divine 
searchlight upon our own selves. The nearer we 
draw to the Cross, the more distinct sin becomes 
in its awful guilt and consequences. ‘‘Who is on 
the Lord’s side?”’ There is no neutrality, no middle 
ground in the allegiance to the service of Christ, 
and it must be repeated, there cannot be a divided, 
nor an unpossessed heart! 

The sharp contrast between the Kingdom of 


120 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Light and the kingdom of evil, of God and of the 
devil, is defined by both Gospel and Epistle. Each 
kingdom has its distinctive marks; each has its 
power; each makes its appeal; each claims its fol- 
lowers. Slowly and deliberately, in order that 
every word may sink in to the very soul, our Lord 
says: ‘‘He—that—is—not—with Me— is against 
Me’! Think of the double and low standards of 
morality so prevalent; the winking at wrong; the 
absorption in things transitory; the indifference in 
Religion; that self-satisfying’, conventional relig- 
ion which so many have fashioned for themselves; 
and then think of the childlike following (it really 
means “imitating’’?) of God, walking in love after 
the example of Christ, Who loved and gave, bring- 
ing forth the fruit of the Spirit in all goodness and 
righteousness and truth. Such an one’s eyes are 
ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck his feet 
out of the net. His hearty desires are for strength 
to stand and fight, defended by the right hand of 
the Majesty against the assaults of the evil one 
always ready to return for repossession. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 25:15, 16 
Psalm: 25:1, 2 


Collect: Quaesumus omnipotens Deus, vota humilium 
respice, atque ad defensionem nostram dexteram tuae maie- 
statis extende, per Dnm. 


Gradual: Psalm 9:19; Psalm 9:38 
Tract: Psalm 123: 1, 3 


LAETARE, THE FOURTH SUNDAY 
IN LENT 


Introit: Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her: 
all ye that love her. 

Rejoice for joy with her: all ye that mourn for her. 

Psalm: I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into 
the house of the Lord. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, 
who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, 
by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; 
TOTOUe neeee. 


Epistle: Galatians 4: 21-31 Gospel: John 6: 1-15 


This is Mid-Lent Sunday, variously named in 
olden times for this reason, Mediana, Vicessima, 
or Dom. in medio Quadragesima. Its Liturgical 
name is Laetare, Rejoice, derived from the first 
word of the Latin Introit. This last name is not 
only startling in itself, but indicates a marked 
change in the tone of this Day in the midst of the 
Lententide. The Jntroits thus far have been veri- 
table groans and pleas “out of the depths,” but 
here, such a tremendous contrast, Rejoice! It does 
not seem natural, or fitting, or harmonious, when 
the whole period serves to emphasize true sorrow 
and mourning over sin. But there is good reason 
for this call to rejoice. It is a true joy-day. The 
indications are fourfold, for every one of the major 
Propers adds its own peculiar note to the full 
majestic chord of Laetare. The Collect emphasizes 
“the comfort of God’s grace”; the Epistle, the true 
freedom of the “children born after the Spirit’; 
the Gospel, the refreshment in the giving of the 

121 


122 THE CHURCH YEAR 


bounteous Christ, to these add both Jntroit and 
Gradual and the chord is complete. 


On account of the Gospel which is the narrative 
of our Lord’s Feeding the Five Thousand, the Sun- 
day has also been called Dom. Refectionis, or de 
panibus, the Lord’s Day of Refreshment, or of the 
Loaves. Some of the rigors of the fast were abated 
for this brief period and the Day assumed some- 
what of a festal character. In the early Middle 
Ages the name Dom.-de Rosa (of the Rose) was 
given to this Sunday; this was symbolic, and re- 
ferred to our Lord, the Rose of Sharon. The reason 
for this name grew out of the blessing of the Golden 
Rose on this Day by the Pope. This he sent to some 
emperor or king or other personage, a custom still 
practiced, but now bestowed on one who has done 
some signal service to the church in the year past. 

But we look for the reason for the name Laetare. 
The catechumens have done penitence and passed 
through the various stages of instruction, scrutiny, 
renunciation, and on the last Sunday, submitted to 
the Rite of Exorcism. Today, those who lately had 
renounced the devil and all his pomps and ways, 
just as ceremoniously announce their allegiance to 
God. This is the sponsio or addictio: their promise 
of allegiance and acceptance of responsibility. This 
has given the Sunday another name, Dom. redemp- 
tionibus ab Idololatria, the Lord’s Day of the re- 
demption from the worship of idols: one remembers 
that the converts are from the heathen world. The 
catechumens now become audientes, that is, hear- 
ers: because they are now admitted to the hearing 
of the Gospel, both read and taught; and permitted 
to remain through a part of the Liturgy. How 
much this experience in the catechumens’ life is re- 
flected in the Introit of the Day! Is not this step 
attained one for rejoicing on their part?—on the 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 123 


Church’s (“Jerusalem’s’’) ?—and can one not hear, 
as if for the first time, the song, “I was glad when 
they said unto me: Let us go into the house of the 
Lord”? On this occasion they received instruction 
in the Formula of the Faith, the Creed, which was 
imparted to them as a whole for the first time; 
likewise the Lord’s Prayer. This also named the 
Sunday as that of the Traditiont Symbolum et Pater 
Noster. Here indeed were many reasons for joy! 

Add then, to all this the H’pistle which fits into 
their experience and the total mounts, and the song 
becomes even more glorious. ‘Children of the 
free,” children of promise, born after the Spirit, 
children of the rejoicing Jerusalem; the contrast 
between the bondage of the Law and the flesh, and 
the freedom of the child of God; and one cannot 
help but feel that through it all, the cause of, the 
reason for, the freedom was ever shown: “if the 
Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” 
And now, Rejoice! Why? Catechumens and Faith- 
ful can answer. Because ye are called; ye are free; 
your walk is free; ye are children of the heavenly 
Jerusalem. See that ye hold yourselves such. 
Heavenly blessing cometh to such alone. In the 
heavy burdens, spiritual, earthly, ’mid which thy 
way leadeth, rejoice for Christ quickeneth thee, 
refresheth thee: for to thee He giveth the Bread 
of Life. 

Refreshment Sunday! and some of the rigors of 
Lent temporarily abated. It will be well to follow 
an indication of this kind, but not for the psycho- 
logical effect it may have, which will only be tem- 
porary; rather to point an abiding lesson. Periods 
of depression, sorrow, penitence, are constantly 
being pierced by rays of Divine Light, comforting, 
Uluminating, nourishing; if we but turn them to 
lasting good, and not sink back again into old ways. 


124 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Sin is here and sorrow for it; and realization of 
consequences, the harshness of the Law—‘“‘we who 
for our evil deeds do worthily (really, justly) de- 
serve to be punished”’; that is our confession as we 
see ourselves in the light which streams from the 
Cross. Lent’s lessons are but half learned by those 
who stop with the conviction of sin—F'pistle, “‘ye 
that are under the Law’; and not learned at all 
unless there is a real sense of sinfulness and sorrow 
and shame for it, and a knowledge of consequences; 
but where it is learned, God meets that with ‘“‘the 
comfort of His grace,” “mercifully relieving us.” 
His gift is freedom, and this the Epistle teaches. 
“Tf the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free 
indeed.” The process of the preparation of this 
emancipation and its application are ever before 
those journeying with Him these days on the Way 
to the Cross. 

The word “relieved” evidently means that some- 
one has “‘lifted’”’ something from us, and that some- 
one else is carrying or providing for, a burden that 
rested on me! What relief—rest—to me, when it 
was lifted! Turn to the Gospel. St. John is unique 
in his purpose in recording a miracle. It is more 
than mere record. It always bears some deep spir- 
itual wonder to which he would turn the heart. 
Read the whole of St. John 6; it is there. The 
Master of the Miracle, the One with the Five Thou- 
sand and more in the wilderness makes their neces- 
sity, their weariness, their hunger His own; but 
He does more, He provides for it. For the thirsty, 
“Water of Life’; for the hungry, “The Living 
Bread”; for the weary and heavy laden, ‘Rest’; 
for the sinner, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.’ Re- 
freshment? Laetare! 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 125 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 66: 10 
Psalm, Psalm 122:1 


Collect: Concede, quaesumus omnipotens Deus, ut qui ex 
merito nostrae actionis affligimur, tuae gratiae consolatione 
respiremus, per Dnm. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 122:1; Psalm 122: 7 
Tract: Psalm 125:1 


JUDICA, PASSION SUNDAY 


Introit: Judge me, O God: and plead my cause against 
an ungodly nation. 

O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man: for Thou 
art the God of my strength. 

Psalm: O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead 
me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill. 

The Gloria. : 


Collect: We beseech Thee, Almighty God, mercifully to 
look upon Thy people, that by Thy great goodness they may 
be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; 
throuchive.s: 


Epistle: Hebrews 9: 11-15 Gospel: John 8: 46-59 


The liturgical name of the Day, Judica, Judge, 
comes from the first word of the Latin Introit. The 
Sunday is also known as Dom. Passionis, the Lord’s 
Day of the Passion, “Passion Sunday”; and this 
week and Holy Week have been spoken of as the 
Passiontide from very early times; but, strange to 
say, it is incorrect to speak of this week only as 
Passion Week! 

Other ancient names for the Sunday are Dom. 
de Cruce, of the Cross, and Dom. Atra, black, be- 
cause from this Day the altars were draped in 
black. These names will indicate that with this 
Day began a clearly defined period within Lent. 
It is true that the spirit of the days seems to be- 
come more and more solemn as one approaches 
nearer and nearer to the Holy of Holies; but the 
historic fact is, that with this Sunday began, and 
these two weeks marked the duration of, the earliest 
ecclesiastical observance of a specially marked 
period in commemoration of our Lord’s Passion. 
The intensity of its tone is revealed by the most 

126 


PASSION SUNDAY 127 


somber color, black, so silently, in its symbolism, 
witnessing to the very spirit of the Church. From 
this brief period, through the centuries, due to 
many contributing causes, some worthy, some won- 
derfully purposeful, some very artificial, the Lent 
we now know has been developed. 

The Gospel of this Day is one of a carefully 
chosen series which has been used since ancient 
times in the daily Services since Laetare. In these 
Lections the many-sided opposition of the Jews to 
our Lord, their enmity, their hatred, are shown; 
but always becoming more intense, always increas- 
ing. We reach this Gospel in our Sunday Use, un- 
fortunately without the advantage of that finely 
developed, purposeful sequence of vivid scenes in 
our Lord’s life of service and suffering; but never- 
theless reach it at a climax of hatred and at a cli- 
macteric point in our Lenten journey. The hatred, 
the enmity, has become national. The Introit’s 
“ungodly nation” is not an artificial touch but 
vividly real. Their enmity and their rejection must 
appear in the Messiah’s Life: all the causes of the 
Cross and His Death must be shown. 

It is not faint-heart whose cry is heard in the 
Introit, but that Patient One of this Gospel, Who 
committed Himself to Him that judgeth right- 
eously, and Who stands out all the more wonder- 
fully clear and pure and holy and patient in His 
sufferings and in His rejection in this Gospel. In- 
trou and Gospel bring this before us in master 
strokes: our Lord’s Passion, not a few days or 
hours, but His entire Ministry. Another wrote, 
“He came unto His own, but His own received Him 
not.” 

In this Gospel the reasons for this appear: His 
calm questions and statements to them, His quiet 
and all-revealing answer: “Before Abraham was 


128 THE CHURCH YEAR 


I AM.” Recall the Name revealed to Moses at the 
Burning Bush; then this is not only proclamation, 
but also revelation, of our Lord’s Divinity; but to 
the Jews, blasphemy, therefore rejection and ston- 
ing. Does not their whole attitude show just what 
His quiet answer meant? ‘He that is of God hear- 
eth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, be- 
cause ye are not of God.” 

The Epistle, in showing the reality of what the 
ancient Mosaic ceremonies were only the type, 
speaks of our Lord’s High-priestly Office, Priest 
and Victim: Process, sacrifice, ‘‘offering’’ of the 
“Blood of Christ’’; purpose, “obtained eternal re- 
demption for us”; promise, “the Mediator of the 
New Testament” that the ‘‘called might receive the 
promise of eternal inheritance.” 

When one comes to the Day’s Collect perhaps one 
feels like saying it is inadequate; but one should 
hesitate, read it again very quietly and slowly, 
ponder it; and then that first opinion will not re- 
main, but become the opposite. It is simple, yet 
transcendingly beautiful and so complete in its 
single little sentence crowded full of soul petition. 
Perhaps the fathers who prepared these Offices— 
and we owe these unknown lovers of God a debt 
which only our appreciation and worshipful use 
can repay—felt, as many unhappily do not, how 
empty mere words are to express the truly deep 
things of the soul. It is not the quantity of words, 
or the length to which it may be drawn out, that 
makes a prayer. These men were pray-ers; they 
prove it when they leave such devotional treasures 
as these Collects. A Collect such as this Day’s can 
be born only of the deepest contemplation; it was 
not “written”; it prayed itself into the very spirit 
of the Day with the soul as the goal of the great 
High Priest’s Ministry and sacrificial Death. How 


PASSION SUNDAY 129 


humbly it takes ws of the Epistle, adds the hearers 
of God’s word of the Gospel, God’s own, and he- 
seeches God—(one cannot refrain from emphasiz- 
ing the directness, the utter simplicity, the unhesi- 
tatingness, of its address, We, we beseech Thee,— 
not an ungodly nation, but Thy people, the re- 
deemed) —“mercifully”—think of the EHpistle— 
“look upon Thy people;—govern and preserve’’— 
two words so frequently employed by the praying 
Church,—“‘both in body and soul.” Take the In- 
troit just as it stands; read it for yourself; “Plead 
my cause against an ungodly nation.” Who is to 
plead, and how? Is the answer in either of the 
Day’s Lections? ‘“O send out Thy light and Thy 
truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto 
Thy holy hill”—‘“‘govern and preserve’?! The first 
hill, Golgotha and the Cross; our hearts, our lives, 
these days of the Passiontide!—so we may come to 
it “glorying in the Cross.” The second hill, ““Who 
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?’—not the 
earthly Zion, but the heavenly Jerusalem—“He 
that hath clean hands (‘the stones’!) and a pure 
heart” (the hearers).—‘‘Who by Thy Cross and 
Precious Blood have been redeemed.” Read Reve- 
lation 7: 13-17. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 43:1, 2a 
Psalm, Psalm 43: 3 
Collect: Quaesumus omnipotens Deus, familiam tuam pro- 


pitius respice, ut te largiente regatur in corpore, et te 
servante custodiatur in mente, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 1438: 9a, 10a; Psalm 18: 48 
Tract: Psalm 129: 1, 2 


HOLY WEEK 


This week has been observed by Christians from 
the earliest days with the greatest solemnity. The 
object has been to commemorate the last week of 
our Lord’s life and to help the believer to re-live it 
all vividly,—Holy days, holy hours indeed in that 
holy companionship. It it no Passion Play, nor is 
it mere dramatic commemoration. It is my heart, 
my life, my soul, in the light of that suffering. It 
is the Holy Week of Fulfillment. Observe how 
many of the Epistles are Old Testament Messianic 
prophecies. 

The Events herein so faithfully memoralized 
have inspired the names: The Great Week, The 
Holy Week. Ancient observance enjoined a strict 
fast and bodily mortification. The sorrow inspired 
by our Lord’s suffering, the depth of His anguish, 
find expression in the names, Heb. Nigra (Black 
Week), or Heb. Lamentationis (Lamentation). As 
early as the Fourth Century it was marked by a 
general release of prisoners and the manumission 
of slaves; cessation of labor (that the slaves might 
enjoy rest and opportunity to be instructed in the 
Faith) ; actions at law ceased and the courts were 
closed (Constantine, Valentinian’s law 367; Theo- 
dosius, 389: hence the name Heb. Muta (Week 
of Silence). Reconciliation of penitents by the 
Church and release of prisoners by the emperors 
gave the name of Heb. Indulgentiae (Indulgence 
Week). Traces of this ancient practice remain in 
a number of the Propers, such as the Tuesday 
and Wednesday Collects and the Monday and Tues- 

| 130 


HOLY WEEK 131 


day Graduals. The German name Charwoche is 
probably derived from the old German chara, 


Trauer (sorrow, mourning), or kar, Strafe, Busze 
(punishment, penitence). 


PALMARUM 


Introit: Be not Thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, 
haste Thee to help me. 

Save me from the lion’s mouth: and deliver me from the 
horns of the unicorns. 

Psalm: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me: 
why art Thou so far from helping me? 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast sent 
Thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon Him our 
flesh, and to suffer death upon the Cross, that all mankind 
should follow the example of His great humility: Mercifully 
grant that we may both follow the example of His patience, 
and also be made partakers of His resurrection; through the 
same Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Phil. 2: 5-11 Gospel: Matt. 21: 1-9 


This Sunday bears various names. The earliest 
are: Dom. in ramis palmarum (Lord’s Day of the 
Palm Branches), Hosanna Sunday, and Pascha 
florum (the Paschal Day of Flowers). All these 
indicate the historic event, the narrative of which 
is our Gospel. It is also called Indulgence Sunday, 
after the practice of reconciling the penitents this 
week. The Creed was again formally imparted to 
the candidates for Baptism and Confirmation, who 
during the past weeks have passed through various 
stages of preparation; that Confirmation is admin- 
istered at this time by us is therefore not without 
ancient historical precedent. The ceremony of 
Blessing the Palm and Olive Branches, and the ac- 
companying jubilant processions, are ancient cus- 
toms and almost universal by the Seventh Century. 

While there is a proper Introit for every Day of 
this Great Week, the tone of that for Palmarum 
characterizes not only the Day itself, but the entire 

132 


PALMARUM 133 


Week. The depths of the Passion, the anguish of 
the Garden, the suffering and ignominy at the hands 
of men, the unspeakable Hours on the Cross, all 
are brought vividly to mind with these solemn 
words of the inspired Psalmist, the last of which 
our Lord made His own heart’s cry on the Cross! 

There may be a “festal” note in the singing and 
shouting of the rejoicing throng surrounding the 
meek and lowly King as He makes His triumphal 
entry into “the City of the great King”; but the 
“Hosanna” and the “Benedictus” will only turn 
to “Crucify Him! Away with Him!” But the 
Gospel brings much more; this is official record. 
The culmination, the great moment for which 
JESUS (He shall save!), the Lamb, foreordained, 
the Messiah, the Only-Begotten, THE King, had 
come, is here:—fulfillment of promise, of prophecy. 
So the Gospel is a two-sided record: personal, deep, 
intimate; revelatory and national. 

Attached to this Gospel of the meek and lowly 
King is the Apostle’s wonderful description of the 
“mind of Christ,” and as we read of that humili- 
ation and obedience in the Epistle our hearts will 
be deeply moved at every thought of all He bore 
for us; but soulful as our response will be, there 
will be added the adoring joy that “It is finished!” 
that “He became obedient unto death,” and there- 
fore “God hath highly exalted Him and given Him 
a name above every name.” The throngs that at- 
tend Him today, the tongues that acclaim Him, con- 
fess “Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father.” “My Lord and my God!” Very beauti- 
fully have all these elements been fused together in 
the Collect, which in itself is a wonderful little His- 
tory of Redemption, and almost every word of 
which is richly eloquent. 


134 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 
Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 22:19, 21 
Psalm, Psalm 22:1 


Collect: Deus, qui humano generi ad imitandum humilitatis 
exemplum, Salvatorem nostrum et carnem sumere, et Crucem 
subire fecisti; concede propitius, ut et patientiae ejus habere 
documentum, et resurrectionis ejus consortia mereamur 
Christi Domini nostri. Qui tecum... 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 78: 23b, 24; Psalm 738: 1 
Tract: Psalm 22:1; Psalm 22: 4, 5 


MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK 


Introit: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive 
with me: fight against them that fight against me. 
Take hold of shield and buckler: and stand up for mine 


help. 
Psalm: Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against 


them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy sal- 


vation. 
The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, 
who amid so many adversities do fail through our own in- 
firmities, may be restored through the Passion and Inter- 
cession of Thine Only-begotten Son, Who... 


Epistle: Isa. 50: 5-10 Gospel: John 12: 1-23 


The Epistle is one of Isaiah’s prophecies con- 
cerning the Messiah’s sufferings. It is evident how 
the Introit reflects its content. The inspired pro- 
phet has drawn a true and vivid picture of some of 
the events of this Great Week. He has also given 
an indication of the Messiah’s obedience, rather, 
consecrated determination to bear; and the Source 
of the inspiration that heartens His submission. 


(Read Rom. 8: 33ff, and note how St. Paul has used | # 


this passage.) The Gospel narrates various inci- | 
dents all historically related to this immediate 
period. First of all is the anointing at Bethany, 
“six days before the Passover,” with a revelation 
of the true character of Judas Iscariot and our 
Lord’s commendation of Mary’s act, accepting it 
“against the day of my burying,—two very defi- 
nite historic touches. One likes to think of this 
home where loving welcome always awaited the 
Master, where there was true, abiding friendship; 
especially in contrast with the Epistle which pic- 
tures the relentless contention of adversaries (chief 
135 


136 THE CHURCH YEAR 


priests, verse 10, Gospel). This Gospel also con- 
tains the account of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, 
and notes how the report of many who had wit- 
nessed Jesus’ raising of Lazarus affected the multi- 
tude which met Him. It also tells of the Greeks 
who “would see Jesus,” and ends with our Lord’s 
announcement, “The hour is come, that the Son of 
man should be glorified.” 

In the Collect, we may view ourselves from the 
angle of the Great Example these hours hold be- 
fore us,—our adversities in comparison with His! 
—that we fail, and fail so terribly, through our re- 
liance, so often misplaced on our own strength in 
our own will, is all the more sharply brought home 
to uS aS we pray and think of Him. There is only 
one Cure; there is but One to help; there is strength, 
sure and abiding, only in One; in these hours we can 
only think of ourselves as failures when we find our- 
selves in His Company; and only as strong to en- 
dure or able to overcome in and through Him Who 
has loved us and given Himself for us. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 35:1, 2 
Psalm, Psalm 35: 3 


Collect: Da quaesumus omnipotens Deus, ut qui in tot 
adversis ex nostra infirmitate deficimus, intercedente uni- 
geniti filii tui passione respiremus, per eundem 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 35: 23; Psalm 35: 3 
Tract: Psalm 79:9 


TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK 


Introit: God forbid that I should glory: save in the Cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In Him is salvation, life and resurrection from the dead: 
by Him we are redeemed and set at liberty. 

Psalm: God be merciful unto us, and bless us: and cause 
His face to shine upon us. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, grant us grace 
so to contemplate the Passion of our Lord, that we may find 
ere forgiveness for our sins; through the same Jesus 

TIStesi.)« 


Epistle: Jer. 11: 18-20 Gospel: John 12: 24-43 


The Introit is interesting apart from the an- 
nouncement it contains. The first verse of its 
Antiphon is a passage from the New Testament 
(Gal. 6:14)—a New Testament passage is un- 
usual; the second verse, while its content is thor- 
oughly Scriptural, is not Scripture. This is an ex- 
ample of what is known as ‘“farsing,’ a term 
applied to a medieval custom of taking a Scriptural 
idea and drawing it out, enlarging, playing upon 
it. This was frequently done with the Kyrie. The 
Psalm verse is Ps. 67. 

The Epistle is one of Jeremiah’s Messianic pro- 
phecies, “the gentle lamb that is led to the slaugh- 
ter” and His utter destruction as plotted by His 
enemies, “that His name may be no more remem- 
bered.” What a contrast when the Introit puts 
into the mouth of the Church a glorying in the very 
thing that was to be the means of her Lord’s de- 
struction! 

The Gospel continues the narrative so abruptly 
ended on Monday, beginning with our Lord’s little 
parable concerning His death, “the corn of wheat 

137 


138 THE CHURCH YEAR 


that if it die, beareth much fruit.” It also records 
events which occurred on this day of the Paschal 
week. His prayer, “Father, glorify Thy name,” 
and the Divine voice of confirmation and inspira- 
tion that instantly followed, seem almost to be so 
placed, with the immediately following words of 
public warning, as a last word of opportunity to 
the fickle rejecting people. What conscious majesty, 
success, victory, are in His words, even though He 
sees the Cross! The Evangelist’s summary con- 
cludes the Gospel. In this he points to the fulfill- 
ment of prophecy and the reasons why many that 
believed did not confess Him, “for they loved the 
glory that is of men.” “God forbid that J should 
glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!” 
(Intrott). 

The Collect turns our hearts to the true use of 
these hours—the most fruitful use—contemplation. 
This means quiet, devout, meditation; from this 
springs realization, one finds one’s true place, one 
meets one’s self face to face at every turn, one reads 
one’s character, one’s vast shortcomings, one’s all- 
hungering needs; and then if contemplation has 
borne its fruit, comes consecration. The Introit 
calls it glorying in our Lord’s Cross; the Collect 
tells us what we find, not by merit or discovery but 
in the fullness of communion with our dear Lord 
one finds what it means when the heart knows the 
forgiveness of sins! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Galatians 6: 14 
Psalm, Psalm 67:1 
Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis ita domin- ° 
icae passionis sacramenta peragere, ut indulgentian per- 
cipere mereamur, per eundem. 
Gelasian Sacrametary. 


Gradual: Psalm 35:13; Psalm 35: Lae? 


WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK 


Introit: At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow: of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the 


earth. 
For He became obedient unto death, even the death of the 


Cross: wherefore He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 
Psalm: Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my cry come 


unto Thee. 
The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, 
who for our evil deeds are continually afflicted, may merci- 
fully be relieved by the Passion of Thine Only-begotten Son, 
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever 
One God, world without end. Amen. 


Epistle: Isa. 62: 11—63: 7 Gospel: Luke 22: 1—23: 42 


This Day marks the actual beginning of the 
events which reached their culmination in the cru- 
cifixion of our Lord: the Sanhedrin’s conspiracy ; 
their covenant made with Judas Iscariot, on ac- 
count of which the day is sometimes called Spy 
Wednesday. The ancient Church used on this and 
the two succeeding days an office called the Tene- 
brae. It probably developed out of the night-watch- 
ings of the prolonged fasts, as it was used either 
very late at night or before daybreak. The cere- 
mony which gives the office the name, consisted in 
the extinction of one candle after another, of fif- 
teen placed upon a large triangular stand, follow- 
ing lessons, etc., until the church was left in com- 
plete darkness; this significant commemoration of 
the crucifixion was heightened by the use of Ps. 51. 

‘The Epistle is another of Isaiah’s wonderful Mes- 
sianic prophecies. With what a dramatic announce- 
ment it begins, so full of promise! and how eloquent 
in these deep hours of fulfillment! It not only fore- 

139 


140 THE CHURCH YEAR 


tells the struggle, but the return of the Victor from 
the strife, “glorious in His apparel, traveling in the 
greatness of His strength.” “At the Name of 
Jesus, every knee shall bow” (Introit)—To the 
Victor the glory! 

The Gospel is the “Passion according to St. 
Luke.” 

One cannot help but note the utter simplicity and 
restraint of the Collect. There are so many things 
crowding in, so many things to pray for, but this 
simple little prayer “collects” and carries all our 
ills to the One and Only Source of healing. Its les- 
son is most salutary. Sin is SJN—the sin that 
crucified our Lord; the sin that condemned the soul, 
the sin that always carries its penalty. “Hear my 
prayer, O Lord,” Victor over sin and death! “Let 
my cry come unto Thee”—<(Introit). Not an echo, 
but the reality of this pleading seeks the merciful 
relief: the rescue, the healing, the salvation, of His 
Passion. 

The Introit foreshadows victory—more, it as- 
serts victory—and with worshipful song, even in 
these deepening hours, gives glory to Him Whom 
the Prophet so many years before saw returning 
glorious in His apparel, bearing the marks of His 
awful travail and struggle but Conqueror! To Him 
—to His Name, ALL things bow. Every knee... 
King of Kings: Lord of Lords... ! JESUS! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Philippians 2:10, 8b, 11b 
Psalm, Psalm 102:1 


Collect: Praesta quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui 
nostris excessibus incessanter affligimur, per unigeniti tui 
passionem liberemur, per eundem. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 69:17; Psalm 69:1, 2a 
Tract: Psalm 102:1; Psalm 102: 13 


THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK 


Introit: God forbid that I should glory: save in the Cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In Him is salvation, life, and resurrection from the dead: 
by Him we are redeemed and set at liberty. 

Psalm: God be merciful unto us, and bless us: and cause 
His face to shine upon us. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord God, Who hast left unto us in a wonderful 
Sacrament a memorial of Thy Passion: Grant, we beseech 
Thee, that we may so use this Sacrament of Thy Body and 
Blood, that the fruits of Thy redemption may continually be 
manifest in us; Who livest and reigneth with the Father 
and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen. 


Epistle: I Cor. 11: 23-82 Gospel: John 13: 1-15 


Upon this Day our Lord instituted the Holy 
Supper and commanded His disciples to do this in 
remembrance of Him. Many of the names which 
this Day carries have been derived from this Event. 
It has been known as Cena Domini (the Day of 
the Lord’s Supper) since the time of Augustine. It 
is also called Dies natalis Eucharistae (the Birth- 
day of the Eucharist), Natalis Calicis (of the Chal- 
ice), Dies Panis (the Day of the Bread), Dies Mys- 
teriorum (of the Sacred Mysteries). The Greek 
Church calls it the Great Fifth (Day). The com- 
monest name, Maundy Thursday, is derived from 
Dies Mandati (of the commandment), see the 
Gospel and John 18: 34, but also recall the com- 
mand of the Institution, ‘‘Do this in remembrance 
of me.” The Gospel also inspires the name Dies 
Pedilavii (Day of the Feet-washing). The German 
Gruendonnerstag is usually derived from the an- 
cient practice of the reconciliation of penitents on 
this day, connecting this with Luke 23:31, the 

141 


142 THE CHURCH YEAR 


withered branches (sinners) through the cere- 
monial of reconciliation are again received into the 
Church and once more become living, green 
branches; further, the unusual color of the vest- 
ments at this Day’s Mass, was green! The oil of 
Chrism used in the Baptism and Confirmation 
rituals on Easter was consecrated this Day. The 
catechumens who had been under instruction were 
required to repeat the Creed and Lord’s Prayer ; 
they also submitted to the ceremony of feet-washing 
(note the Gospel). The Holy Communion was cele- 
brated in the evening, the only day in the year when 
it was allowed to be celebrated at this time. At this 
celebration an additional portion of Bread was con- 
secrated to be reserved for the Good Friday and 
Easter Eve Masses, which, because there was no 
“consecration” in the Communion Office at those 
times, was called the Mass of the Presanctified. 

The Epistle is St. Paul’s account of the Institu- 
tion of the Holy Supper; and is here naturally as 
an historic narrative, because the Gospel is em- 
ployed for another purpose. 

The Collect, a very beautiful prayer for the 
proper use of the Holy Sacrament, was written by 
Thomas Aquinas. It is indeed most rare that the 
name of the writer of a Collect is known. The 
Gospel is the narrative of the Feet-washing, our 
Lord’s appointed example and instruction in 
humble, loving service; and reveals the attitude of 
heart required if one is to remember Him, humbly 
partake of the Holy Communion which He has 
given to us, and manifest the fruits of His redemp- 
tion. 


THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK 143 


SOURCES 


Introit: as for Tuesday. 


Collect: Deus qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili passionis 
tuae memoriam reliquisti, tribue quaesumus ita nos Cor- 
poris et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerati, ut redemp- 
tionis tuae fructum in nobis jugite sentiamus. Quivivis... 


This Collect was written by St. Thomas Aquinas in 1264. 
Gradual: Phil. 2: 8; Phil. 2: 9 


GOOD FRIDAY 


Introit: Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our 
sorrows: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was 
bruised for our iniquities. 

All we like sheep have gone astray: and the Lord hath 
laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 

Psalm: Hear my prayer, O Lord: and let my cry come 
unto Thee. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty God, we beseech Thee graciously to 
behold this Thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ 
was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands 
of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the Cross; through 
the same Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Isa. 52: 183—53: 12 Gospel: John 18: 1—19: 42 


It has been well said, “This Day is not one of 
man’s institution, but was consecrated by our Lord 
Jesus Christ when He made it the Day of His most 
holy Passion.” It has always been a day of the 
greatest solemnity and most devoted religious ob- 
Servance, usually, however, of the simplest char- 
acter and shorn of anything that might contribute 
a festal tone. It has always been called The Day 
of the Cross, and in early times also Pascha Stauro- 
simon (The Paschal Day of the Crucifixion), as 
Easter was called Pascha Anastasimon (Paschal 
Day of the Resurrection). Later it became the 
Great Friday (Parasceves) and the Dies Dom. Pas- 
sionis (Day of the Lord’s Passion). The German 
name is Karfreitag, Trauerfreitag. Through the 
process of time, ritual and custom strove to empha- 
size the solemn character of the day. A most strict 
fast was enjoined (sick and aged alone excepted). 
Works of charity and gifts of love were urged. All 
notes of joy were scrupulously hushed: the Glorias 

144 


GOOD FRIDAY 145 


had already been excluded at the beginning of the 
week; now the bells were silenced; no kiss of peace 
was given at the Communion (which was a Mass 
of the Presanctified, and finally became the com- 
munion of the priest alone); all altar ornaments 
and coverings were removed; the vestments were 
black; lamps and candles were gradually extin- 
guished (Tenebrae); a long series of intercessory 
prayers distinguished one of the devotions (the 
general form of this and some of the Collects re- 
main in our Use in the Bidding Prayer, where the 
Rubric notes its Good Friday use. See Common 
Service Book, Text Ed. 249). Of course, the read- 
ing of the Passion (according to St. John, cf., the 
Gospel) formed the very center of the Church’s de- 
votions, but probably the most conspicuous cere- 
mony was the Adoration of the Cross; during this 
the Reproaches and the hymns, Pange, lingua glori- 
osa, “Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle,” and 
Vewilla regis, “The Royal Standard Forward Goes,” 
were sung. It is surprising to learn to what lengths 
the effort of emphasizing the terrible solemnity of 
the Hours of the Passion went. In Spain, Seventh 
Century, it was customary to close all the churches 
and hold no services during the day. 

The Day is no less solemn to the Evangelical 
Christian, nor is his spirit less responsive to all it 
unfolds; but to him it is the Day when (sad to say, 
no matter how lax he may have been at other 
times) he will be in church some time. The ap- 
pointments of the Church of the Reformation look 
to the use of this Day as one of most high and 
solemn praise. They presuppose a Celebration of 
the Holy Communion, a distinct heritage of the 
Reformation, and what better day than this on 
which to unite in the Memorial of the Passion! 
(1 Cor. 11: 26). The altar, though dressed in black, 


146 THE CHURCH YEAR 


carries the silent message of invitation and partici- 
pation. The Glorias ring out; the hymns uplift the 
soul. The message of the “Propers” is but a sol- 
emn, uplifting voice: Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suf- 
fering Servant; the narrative of these Final Hours 
written by John, the Disciple whom Jesus loved. 
The three Collects reach out from the foot of the 
Cross to the Throne of Grace: “Graciously behold 
this Thy family”; “Fix our hearts with steadfast 
faith”; “Help us to remember and give thanks.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 53: 4a, 5a, 6a, ¢ 
Psalm, Psalm 102: 1 
Collect: Respice Dne quaesumus, super hane familiam 
tuam, pro qua Dominus noster Ihs Xus non dubitavit mani- 
bus tradi nocentium, et crucis subire tormentum, qui tecum. 
Gelasian Sacramenetary. 


Gradual: Isaiah 53: 5; Isaiah 53: lla 


SATURDAY IN HOLY WEEK 


Collect: O God, Who didst enlighten this most holy night 
with the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection: Preserve in al 
Thy people the spirit of adoption which Thou hast given, so 
that renewed in body and soul they may perform unto Thee 
a pure service; through Jesus Christ... 


Saturday in Holy Week was called the Great Sab- 
bath, the Holy Sabbath as early as post-apostolic 
times. The Vigils of Easter, Holy Saturday, Easter 
Eve and Karsamstag are the usual present desig- 
nations. While still kept as a strict fast, as the 
day advanced, its tone gradually turned to joy in 
anticipation of the dawn of the Day of Resurrec- 
tion. The ceremonies of the day included the 
Blessing of the New Fire and the Paschal Candle, 
and the Water of Baptism, and at one time the Bap- 
tism of the Catechumens. The Alleluia appeared in 
the Communion and white vestments were used. 
Naturally, the services grew in importance toward 
the close of the day, and continued until after mid- 
night to welcome the early dawn (note the Collect, 
“Who didst enlighten this most holy night”). At 
some places the Holy Communion was celebrated in 
the evening, and instead of the usual Introit the 
Gloria in Excelsis was sung ’mid the ringing of the 
bells. A custom at Milan was the announcement 
made three times, at this service, “Christ the Lord 
has risen,” to which the people joyously responded 
“Thanks be to God.” 

The ancient Fpistle for this Day is Col. 3: 1-4, 
the Gospel Matt. 28:1-7. The Common Service 
Book appoints only the Collect, which is a very 
beautiful prayer and reflects the ancient custom of 
baptizing the catechumens on this Day. Reasons. 

147 


148 THE CHURCH YEAR 


why the other Propers are not appointed do not 
appear, except perhaps the unhappy fact that they 
would seldom be used as Saturday is a “poor” day 
for Church services in this “modern” life. When 
a service is held on Saturday it usually is in the 
evening, and for this there will be the seventh 
part of the History of the Passion; unfortunately 
in this latter case the service lacks the joy-note of 
anticipation of the Easter Dawn. 


SOURCES 


Collect: Deus, qui hance sacratissimam noctem gloria Do- 
minicae Resurrectionis inlustras: conserva in nova familiae 
tuae progenie adoptionis spiritum, quem dedisti: ut corpore 
et mente renovati, puram tibi exhibeant servitutem. Per 
Dominum. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


EASTER DAY, THE RESURRECTION 
OF OUR LORD 


Introit: When I awake, I am still with Thee. Hallelujah: 
Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me. Hallelujah. 

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high, I can- 
not attain unto it. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Psalm: O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me: 
Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty God, Who, through Thine Only-begotten 
Son, Jesus Christ, hast overcome death, and opened unto us 
the gate of everlasting life: We humbly beseech Thee, that, 
as Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by Thy con- 
tinual help we may bring the same to good effect; through 
Jesus, Cristy... 


Epistle: I Cor. 5: 6-8 Gospel: Mark 16: 1-8 


This Day is the climax of the Church’s Year, as 
the Fact it commemorates is the innermost center 
of the Christian’s life and eternal hope. It is the 
Feast of Feasts, the King of Days. “The first day 
of the week” of the Gospel becomes the Lord’s Day, 
uniquely His through His victory; and in joyful re- 
membrance the early Church kept this weekly com- 
memoration of His resurrection. This was not dis- 
placed, but emphasized, by the annual observance 
of the “historic” day as the Lord’s Day of Resur- 
rection, this and the Paschal Day of the Resurrec- 
tion are its earliest names. 

Our popular name Easter, German Ostern, is de- 
rived from the name of the pagan goddess Hostre 
or Ostera, whose festival was celebrated at the time 
of the vernal equinox. Admitting that this is a 
rather unhappy derivation of the name of the great- 
est Christian Festival, philologists have traced the 
name to the old German urstan, to rise, and urstand, 

149 


150 THE CHURCH YEAR 


resurrection. At all events, the significance of the 
season of awaking and the idea of sunrise are self- 
evident in the English name. The modern name 
in the Greek Church is Lampra, Bright Day. 

The Day, of course, is one of greatest, holiest joy. 
The contrast with the long fast and the emotions 
of preceding days adds to this effectively. The 
Church could hardly wait for its coming. Its cele- 
bration began with ringing of bells and glad ac- 
claim at midnight, -continuing till dawn. The 
churches were ablaze with candles and lights. Joy- 
ful the constant greeting, ‘‘Christ is risen!” and 
the answer, “He is risen indeed!’’ 

The Day and Week (for the celebration contin- 
ued erght days, from which the name for the last 
day, “Octave,” and the expression “within the 
Octave,” arises) were marked by acts of Christian 
love; bounteous meals were provided for the poor, 
in the churches themselves if there were no other 
places large enough. The Emperor Theodosius 
promulgated a law closing the theaters and the 
circus, to guard the Christian Easter joy from be- 
ing mixed with heathen celebrations; and at one 
time (533) the Jews were ordered to keep out of 
sight from Maundy Thursday till Easter Monday. 

It was also the most solemn Day of Baptism, 
which was administered at ‘“cock-crow’; during 
this ceremony the candidates were dressed in new 
white robes which they wore throughout the week, 
from which the name White Week. All labor ceased 
in order that all might gather every day in the 
churches to participate in the services of praise. 
This observance of the entire week, also called The 
Week of Weeks, gradually was abbreviated until 
in 1094 it became a cycle of three days. Our ap- 
pointments are for but two. 

The day upon which Easter falls varies from 


EASTER DAY 151 


year to year, and this variation in date has a far- 
reaching effect upon the Church Year. The ques- 
tion as to whether Easter should be kept on a 
Sunday (Lord’s Day) or invariably on 14 Nisan 
(a permanent date), whatever the day of the week 
might be, agitated the Church already in the be- 
ginning of the Second Century. This was the be- 
ginning of what is known as the Paschal Contro- 
versy, and it continued, with at times a far from 
gentle spirit, for centuries. The western custom 
of observing Easter always on the Lord’s Day near- 
est the historic date was confirmed at the Council 
of Nicea. Just as much difficulty and contention 
arose in connection with the determination of the 
date: as to whether Jewish computations should be 
followed (the close relation between Easter and 
the Jewish Passover is, of course, apparent), or 
the mathematical computations of Alexandrian 
savants. The West depended in great part upon 
the latter. Out of these opposing methods a process 
gradually evolved, which though somewhat cumber- 
some, became the rule of Western Christendom. 
This long series of rubrics and tables has fortun- 
ately been omitted in the Common Service Book. 
The directions there are a model of simplicity: a 
table of dates covering a long period of years, and 
as Easter is the center of the Church’s Year, the 
dating of the other festivals and seasons becomes 
a very simple matter. 

Whichever of the Introits may be used, the Hal- 
lelujah (Praise the Lord) rings out to usher in the 
Day of Joy; but it has its somber note as well, 
“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is 
high, I cannot attain unto it.” This seems to run 
through Collect and Epistle. The great accom- 
plished Fact of the Resurrection is celebrated— 
Christ’s victory for us, completed! But the Collect 


152 THE CHURCH YEAR 


—as we pray—also teaches that simply because 
Christ in His victorious power is risen for us does 
not guarantee our rising “in the likeness of His 
resurrection” to the enjoyment of those eternal 
blessings; something is required of the believer— 
“As Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so 
by Thy continual help may we bring the same to 
good effect.”” “If ye be risen with Christ, seek the 
things above’—“Purge out the old leaven!” 
(Epistle). On the other hand, it is a guarantee 
that He Who has granted us participation will ever 
help us to the higher life if—here the aspirations 
of the additional Collects are to be noted. 

The Epistle reminds one of the man in the Gospel 
who came to the marriage without a wedding gar- 
ment. How shall we “keep the feast?” What kind 
of a heart, life, are we bringing? “In tune with 
the Infinite’ means something this Easter Day! 
The Gospel is the Record of the Resurrection ac- 
cording to St. Mark invested with the crowning 
dignity of simple naturalness. 


SOURCES 


I Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 139: 18, 5b, 6 
Psalm, Psalm 189: 1, 2 


II Introit: Antiphon, Luke 24:6a, 5b, 6b, 7 
Psalm, Psalm 8: 5b, 6a 


Collect: Deus, qui hodierna die per unigenitum tuum 
aeternitatis nobis aditum devicta morte reserasti! vota nos- 
tra, quae praeveniendo aspiras, etiam adiuvando prosequere, 
per eundem Dnm nrm. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 118: 24; Psalm 136: 1; I Corinthians 5: 
7b; I Corinthians 5: 8a, b. 


MONDAY AFTER EASTER 


Introit: He is risen, Hallelujah: Why seek ye the Living 
among the dead? Hallelujah. 

Remember how He spake unto you, Hallelujah: the Son 
of Man must be crucified, and the third day rise again. 
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Psalm: Thou crownedst Him with glory and honor: Thou 
madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty God, Who, through Thine Only-begotten 
Son, Jesus Christ, has overcome death, and opened unto us 
the gate of everlasting life: We humbly beseech Thee, that, 
as Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by Thy 
continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through 
Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Acts 10: 34-41 Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35 


Immediately the Church begins her witness-bear- 
ing. The Epistle, “we are witnesses of all things 
which He did”; it is the address made by St. Peter 
to the Roman Cornelius and his household, the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Resurrection Story, now 
to the Gentiles! Good Friday, the culmination of 
the rejection by “His own”; Easter Monday, one 
of the goings into the highways and byways, that 
the wedding may be furnished with guests! 

The Gospel is a witness to the Risen Lord, con- 
taining the Record of the Walk to Emmaus. No- 
tice how and how soon “the two” become witnesses. 


153 


QUASI MODO GENITI, THE FIRST 
SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 


Ee As newborn babes: desire the sincere milk of the 
ord. 

Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, 
if thou wilt harken unto Me. 

Psalm: Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful 
noise unto the God of Jacob. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we 
who have celebrated the solemnities of the Lord’s Resurrec- 
tion, may, by the help of Thy grace, bring forth the fruits 
thereof in our life and conversation; through the same Jesus 
Christualie 


Epistle: I John 5: 4-12 Gospel: John 20: 19-31 


The Latin name of the Sunday is derived from 
the opening words of the Introit, As newborn 
babes. This Sunday illustrates how a custom in- 
herent in the Church’s life affected the appoint- 
ments for the day. This Sunday, the eighth day 
after the resurrection, therefore its Octave, is the 
end of the Feast. Upon it those who had been bap- 
tized at the Easter vigils received their first Com- 
munion. At their baptism the catechumens had 
been clothed in white garments, symbolic of their 
regeneration; and had worn them throughout the 
week (hence called the White Week), attending all 
the services and the hours of instruction wherein 
they were prepared for their first Communion. On 
this Sunday they appeared, “as newborn babes,”’ 
wearing their white garments for the last time 
(hence White Sunday) ; and after a final exhorta- 
tion by the bishop, for the basis of which the 
Church well chose the Epistle, they received the 
Holy Communion, thus taking their final step of 

154 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 155 


entrance into the communion of believers. After 
the Benediction they removed the white garments 
(hence another ancient name The Sunday of the 
Removal of the White Garments). It was also 
called Annotine Easter (anniversary), and ob- 
served as the anniversary of their baptism by 
those who had been baptized in previous years. 
And so the Church strives to help all “new-born 
babes” (the aptness of this Sunday’s teaching is 
strictly in keeping today, when we remember how 
many have been but lately confirmed), and all who 
have been “born again” and incorporated in Him, 
by holding before them life that is to be a constant 
manifestation of the fruits of the Resurrection. 
“Whosoever is born of God, overcometh the world; 
and this is the victory ... even our faith,” so the 
Epistle. The “testimony” upon which this life 
rests, out of which it grows, blooms, bears fruit, 
is divine. Compare the second verse of the Introit 
and how all-embracing the Epistle is in this con- 
nection also. 


The choice of the Gospel is characteristic of the 
Church’s effort to repeat and emphasize the festival 
teaching on the Octave (see vs. 19-23 of the 
Gospel), but also to relive the events in point of 
time—“After eight days,” etc. 

These post-Easter Epistles continue the instruc- 
tion to the newly baptized. One can seek in vain 
for a more appropriate selection than that ap- 
pointed for this the Octave of the Resurrection; for 
beginning with the statement intended primarily 
for the “new born babes”—newly born in the spir- 
itual realm, that “whosoever is born of God over- 
cometh the world”—the logic of loving faith 
carries them forward step by step—the overcom- 
ing victory is our faith—the conqueror is only he 
who believeth that Jesus is the Son of God—on to 


156 THE CHURCH YEAR 


the crowning gift eternal life in Him—given to us 
in Him—and He ours only through faith! And in 
this the “historic moment” is also emphasized, the 
victory of the Risen Lord. One almost feels that 
beside the majestically simple Collect of Good 
Friday wherein all the heart could pour forth was 
a plea to behold this Thy family, based upon the 
guarantee of our Lord’s sacrificing Love, should 
be placed its companion, graciously accept this Thy 
family of new born babes for which our Lord has 
risen and ever liveth and reigneth! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, I Peter 2: 2; Psalm 81:8 
Psalm, Psalm 81: 1 


Collect: Praesta, quaesumus omnipotens Deus, ut qui pas- 
chalia festa peregimus, haec te largiente moribus et vita 
teneamus, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Matthew 28: 2 ; John 20: 26 


MISERICORDIAS DOMINI, THE 
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 


Introit: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord: by 
the Word of the Lord were the heavens made. 

Psalm: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is 
comely for the upright. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: God, Who, by the humiliation of Thy Son, didst 
raisa up the fallen world: Grant unto Thy faithful ones 
perpetual gladness and those whom Thou hast delivered from 
the danger of everlasting death, do Thou make partakers 
of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I Peter 2: 21-25 Gospel: John 10: 11-16 


The name of the Sunday comes from a phrase in 
the Antiphon of the Introit, and means “the good- 
ness (literally: tender mercies) of the Lord.” The 
Sunday is also called “Good Shepherd Sunday,” 
after the Gospel. The note of the day is “Rejoice 
in the Lord,” struck by the Introit; sought in the 
Collect, “perpetual gladness’—“partakers of 
eternal joys’; found in the Epistle, in the “follow- 
ing His steps,” in the care of the Shepherd and 
Bishop of Souls; completed in the promise of the 
Gospel, “the one fold” to be—‘safe home at 
Taste cst ua 

The whole post-Easter Season is, of course, one 
of pure joy. Every week’s round will contribute 
its own unique note to the full chord. Here, as if 
to a new-born world, “the whole earth,” the glad 
tidings of the Easter message is to ring out. Nor 
should one fail to appreciate what “the whole 
earth” is silently but so eloquently contributing just 
now. Spring, the awakening, is at hand. Nature 
is bearing its wonderful testimony to the Risen 

157 


158 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Life. And how the very coming of spring gladdens 
the heart! Is not the earth full of the goodness of 
the Lord? But a holier note is in the joy at the 
Good Shepherd’s return. Now the Victor, Who, 
intimately knowing, and known by, His own, 
guards, cares for, leads to the ever green pastures. 
It may be through suffering, misunderstanding 
(Epistle), but there is “fellowship” in that suffer- 
ing now, which was lacking before, and which the 
Easter victory brings home to every believing heart. 
Did not Peter know that? How he poured his 
heart into those words he wrote—our Epistle for 
this day. He had gone astray, but the Good Shep- 
_ herd’s love had made it possible, even in His hours 
of anguish, for him to return. One hundred sheep 
—one gone astray—seek and save that which was 
lost. How the Church has loved the name “Good 
Shepherd,” Pastor Bonus, and the Gospel with its 
three Shepherd pictures, past, present and future! 

The Collect in the phrase—“by the humiliation 
Thy Son didst raise up a fallen world”—combines 
the sufferings of Christ of which the Epistle speaks, 
and the climax of them all, prophetically parabol- 
ized by our Lord in the Gospel, to make this the 
ground for the petition of the Day. It is not pass- 
ing joys or temporal ease but perpetual gladness— 
eternal joys that are sought and only to be found 
as both Epistle and Gospel teach in Christ the Good 
Shepherd Who has raised up a fallen world, the 
Bishop of Souls, Who is gathering the fruits of His 
Sacrificial death into an eternal fold. The “value” 
—‘““merit”—“power” of those Sufferings and that 
Shepherd’s Death are computed in human terms, 
but really exceeding human comprehension !— 
“Humiliation of Thy Son’—“raise up a fallen 
world”’—“perpetual gladness’—“E verlastin g 
death”—“Eternal joys.” 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 159 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 33: 5, 6 
Psalm, Psalm 33:1 
Collect: Deus, qui in Filii tui humilitate jacentem mundum 
erexisti; laetitiam concede: ut quos_ perpetuae mortis 
eripuisti casibus, gaudiis sempiternis perfrui. Per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Luke 24: 35; John 10: 14 


JUBILATE, THE THIRD SUNDAY 
AFTER EASTER 


Introit: Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: sing 
forth the honor of His Name; make His praise glorious. 

Psalm: Say unto God, how terrible art Thou in Thy 
works: through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine 
enemies submit themselves unto Thee. 

The Gloria. ’ 


Collect: Almighty God, Who showest to them that be in 
error the light of Thy truth, to the intent that they may 
return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them 
that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion 
that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their 
profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the 
same; through Jesus Christ ... 


Epistle: I Peter 2: 11-20 Gospel: John 16: 16-23 


The Sunday is named from the Intrott, Jubliate, 
“Make a joyful noise.” <A striking contrast exists 
between the Season, which is one of pure joy, and 
the Sunday named Jubilate, Rejoice, on the one 
hand, and the Day’s Gospel, which is full of sorrow 
and news of an impending Separation. It is to be 
noted that this sorrow, which is so pointedly con- 
nected with the disciples and its cause so vividly 
Stated, is again, by way of contrast, the origin of 
an altogether different kind of joy, that of the 
world (apparently victorious in doing away with 
Jesus—note “Thine enemies,” Introit). But again 
with the disciples living through this experience, 
comes a joy to them, not of, or from, or like, the 
world’s, but uniquely their own; not merely the joy 
of the reunited; something more, a joy that becomes 
their own to such a degree that none can ever de- 
prive them of it, least of all the world! This pro- 
cess of acquiring, or, rather, finally possessing, the 

160 


THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 161 


never-failing Joy is one that is a true post-Easter 
story to every believing heart. 

But the Church uses this Gospel today to intro- 
duce the “historical moment.” The restoration of | 
the Risen Jesus to His little band is but for a short | 
time, “a little while’—we are looking toward As- | 
cension Day, separation again!—but how did that 
little company return from the Ascension Mount? 
weeping, lamenting? (See Luke 24: 52.) Begin- 
ning to learn “the joy set before them”! 

The Epistle and Collect again recall the Easter 
baptisms and confirmations—those “that are ad- 
mitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion.” For 
these and all other Christians the Epistle is a direc- 
tory of practical living. The believer is in the 
world, not of it; he is likewise to be conscious of 
“the little while’ of his earthly walk; he is a 
“stranger and pilgrim” journeying to the home- 
land—there is his supreme allegiance; there his 
citizenship, his loyalty; there the inspiration for 
his patriotism. But this notwithstanding, only 
makes him the more observant of duty in “‘the pres- 
ent age.” He may be out of harmony with the 
world, derided, falsely accused by the worldling ; 
but his “conversation will be honest among the 
Gentiles”; he “will submit himself to every ordi- 
nance of man”—but these for the Lord’s sake. He 
owes obligations to government, authority, etc. ; in 
fact his whole deportment to that which is without 
is to be an “eschewing of those things that are con- 
trary to this profession and a following of all such 
things as are agreeable to the same.” Note the last 
verse of the Epistle. Particularly pointed in these 
days are verses 15, 16 of the Epistle. 

The Collect is of more than passing interest. It 
first of all admirably describes the life of the be- 
liever: His past, “in error’; the Guidance which 


162 THE CHURCH YEAR 


led to his conversion, “the light of Thy truth”... 
“return into the way of righteousness”; his recep- 
tion into the Church, “admitted into the fellowship 
of Christ’s religion’; his life in God’s service: flee- 
ing sin, “eschew those things that are contrary to 
their profession”; childlike obedience, ‘follow all 
such things as are agreeable to the same.” The 
Collect comes to us from the Sacramentary (Service 
Book) of Leo the Great, died 450. Think of its 
age! Think of the countless throngs who have 
prayed it year after year these centuries! Think 
of the great multitude—“which no man can num- 
ber” !—for whom it has been prayed! What price- 
less, inspiring treasures these little prayers are! 
“I believe in the Communion of Saints!” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 66: 1, 2 
Psalm, Psalm 66: 8 


Collect: Deus errantes in via posse redire, veritatis lumen 
ostendis: da cunctis, qui Christiana professione consentur, 
et illa respuere, quae huic inimica sunt nomini, et ea quae 
sunt apte sectari. Per. | 

Leonine Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 111: 9a; Luke 24: 26 


CANTATE, THE FOURTH SUNDAY 
AFTER EASTER 


Introit: O sing unto the Lord a new song: for He hath 
done marvelous things. 

The Lord hath made known His salvation: His righteous- 
ness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen. 

Psalm: His right hand, and His holy arm: hath gotten 
Him the victory. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who makest the minds of the faithful to 
be of one will: Grant unto Thy people that they may love 
what Thou commandest, and desire what Thou dost promise; 
that, among the manifold changes of this world, our hearts 
may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through 
Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: James 1: 16-21 Gospel: John 16: 5-15 


The name of the Sunday is derived from the first 
word of the Introit: Cantate! ‘“Sing!’’ The office 
of the Introit is to announce the fact, or “spirit,” 
of the day: to strike the keynote for the day’s cele- 
bration. That of this day is peculiarly rich and full. 
One cannot read or hear it without being put in 
harmony with the whole Easter message. ‘‘He hath 
done marvelous things!” “The Lord hath made 
known His salvation; His righteousness hath He 
openly shown in the sight of the heathen.” “His 
right hand, and His holy arm: hath gotten Him the 
victory!” “Marvelous things” indeed, His victory; 
its declaration; its application; its perpetuation. 

The historic moment again is emphasized, but 
reaches farther than merely “after Easter.” The 
sorrow of separation is here, but also its necessity, 
expediency. Beyond the Ascension, toward which 
we must immediately look, lies Pentecost: “If 1 
go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; 

163 


164 THE CHURCH YEAR 


but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” Here 
is the Promise of the Coming One, and His three- 
fold work when He is come: The Convicter of the 
world; the Spirit of Truth, to guide, to show; the 
Glorifier (note the second verse of the Introit in 
this connection). The note of harmony between 
the Gospel and the Epistle is apparent and not 
forced. The Good and Perfect Gift supreme, prom- 
ised, is from above, as is the outflow of all spirit- 
ual gifts; and these*the result of the mediation of 
the ascended Christ. The “born again” that we 
have heard before seems to ring in our ears as we 
read, “Of his own will begat he us with the word 
of truth” (another of the Perfect Gifts from 
above). Then the conditions of reception and ac- 
ceptance, “Wherefore let every man,” .. . purity, 
obedience, meekness ... “receive... the engrafted 
word, which is able to save your souls.” The end 
of the acceptance and obedience, salvation. The 
Collect makes the reason or ground of the petition 
the working of the Comforter in the minds of the 
faithful, and emphasizes the unity of the believers 
in loving the commands, desiring the promises, and 
fixing the hearts on the true joys in Christ. “If ye 
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are 
above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of 
God” (Col. 3: 1-3). 

It is of more than passing interest to note that 
the Epistles thus far, which are exhortations to 
“bring forth the fruits of the Resurrection in our 
life and conversation,” to seek the Risen Life—in 
fact, throughout the entire post-Easter season— 
are from the writings of Peter, James and John: to 
two of whom some special, personal “Easter” mani- 
festation was accorded, and the other, the one who 
stooped down, looked, and came away believing! 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 165 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 98: la, 2 
Psalm, Psalm 98: 1b 


Collect: Deus, qui fidelium mentes unius efficis voluntatis; 
da populis tuis, id amare, quod praecipis, id desiderare, quod 
promittis: ut inter mundanas varietates ibi nostra fixa sint 
corda ubi vera sunt gaudia. Per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 118: 16; Romans 6:9 


ROGATE, THE FIFTH SUNDAY 
AFTER EASTER 


Introit: With the voice of singing declare ye, and tell 
this: utter it even to the end of the earth. Hallelujah. 

The Lord hath redeemed His servant Jacob: Hallelujah. 
Hallelujah. 

Psalm: Make a joyful.noise unto God, all ye lands: sing 
forth the honor of His Name; make His praise glorious. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, from Whom all good things do come: 
Grant to us Thy humble servants, that by Thy holy inspira- 
tion we may think those things that be right and by Thy 
pence guiding may perform the same; through Jesus 

DrIStiowen 


Epistle: James 1: 22-27 Gospel: John 16: 23-30 


Now comes the Song of Victory; sung to the 
Church of the First-born—the Redeemed; sung by 
them in honor of their Redeemer: “With the voice 
of singing declare ye ... The Lord hath redeemed 
His servant Jacob. Hallelujah.” The Sunday also 
feels the nearness of the Ascension. It is reaching 
out toward it. The “sorrow” at separation is giv- 
ing place to a new joy, a joy that drowns out all 
thought of sorrow in the wonder of its power. Note 
how the great Fact of the Completion grips the 
Church, “Utter it even to the end of the earth.” The 
historic moment is vividly touched on in the Gospel, 
verse 28, “I came forth from the Father, and am 
come into the world: again, I leave the world and 
go to the Father.” How that single verse epitom- 
izes that Life, Advent to Ascension! ; 

But the Gospel containing our Lord’s instruction 
and assurance concerning “asking’”—prayer—has 
given to the Sunday another name, Rogate, “Pray,” 
in English, “Rogation Sunday.” The three days 

166 


THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 167 


following have been, since early times, known as 
the Rogation Days. Upon them the faithful would 
meet in the churches, and, after psalms and prayers, 
proceed in solemn procession out into the fields, 
chanting their Litanies. Arriving there, prayers 
would be offered for the growth of the fruits of the 
earth, the husbandman, the tiller of the ground, etc. 
The probable origin of this custom, and it is worthy 
of perpetuation, was duc to the desire to ask God’s 
blessing upon the rising plants at the time of the 
spring awakening. The association of this with 
this Sunday, which usually falls in the springtime, 
whose Gospel is our Lord’s instruction to ask in His 
name, is most natural. The procession to the fields 
is usually traced back to Mamertus, Bishop of 
Vienna in 452, who, because of pestilence and 
famine, made this Sunday and the following days 
the occasion for solemn petitions in the country 
round about. 

The Epistle continues the practical instructions 
to the lately confirmed (and all others as well), 
with an exhortation to active service: the emphasis 
is on “doers of the word.” ‘This is also reflected in 
the Collect which not only asks that by His “holy 
inspiration (remember the promise of the Com- 
forter to guide—instruct, enlighten, etc.) we may 
think those things that be right,” but actualizes the 
teaching of the Gospel in asking directly that by 
His “merciful guiding we may perform the same.” 
The difference between a mere hearer and one who 
hears and does is defined as is also his activity, 
called “pure religion.” Three indications of what 
this truly is: bridling the tongue: visiting father- 
less and widows (self-denying, thoughtful, re- 
sourceful charity—“love one another’), keeping 
one’s self unspotted from the world. 


The Gospel is not only our Lord’s teaching to His 


168 THE CHURCH YEAR 


disciples that last night in the Upper Room con- 
cerning prayer, but His attest on their petitioning 
—the assurance of answer: the great community 
of prayer in His, their Lord’s, Name. This too, the 
Collect grasps in the address to ‘‘God from Whom 
all good things do come.”’ 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Isaiah 48: 20 b, ¢ 
Psalm, Psalm 1400: 1 


Collect: Deus, a quo bona cuncta procedunt; largire sup- 
plicibus: ut cogitemus, te inspirante, quae recta sunt: et, te 
gubernante, eadem faciamus. Per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Luke 24: 26; John 16: 28 


THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD 


Introit: Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into 
heaven? Hallelujah. 

This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, 
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into 
heaven: Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Psalm: O clap your hands, all ye people: shout unto God 
with the voice of triumph. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that like 
as we do believe Thy Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus 
Christ, to have ascended this Day into the heavens; so may 
we also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with Him 
continually dwell, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and 
the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen. 


Epistle: Acts 1: 1-11 Gospel: Mark 16: 14-20 


This Festival is of very early origin. Its first 
mention is by a writer in the Fourth Century, but 
in such a manner as to allow one to think it already 
established and widely observed. It is mentioned 
in the Apostolic Constitutions. Sermons by Sts. 
Augustine and Chrysostom and other early fathers 
exist, which were delivered on this Day. It was 
always considered one of the ( Great Festivals, and 
one of most holy joy, as it marks the completion of 
our Lord’s redemptive work. The Greek Church 
ealls it the “Taking up.” It is also known as “Holy 
Thursday.” Ephraim, one of the greatest of Greek 
hymn writers, calls the Nativity, Easter and the 
Ascension “the three Feasts of our Lord’s God- 
head.” In some sections, notably the Hast, it was 
customary to celebrate the services in the open, 
either in the fields, if there was no mountainside, 
or in the cemeteries. 

Thus the Church Year marks the complete and 
completed earthly life of our Lord. 

169 


170 THE CHURCH YEAR 


The Propers for the Day all bear upon the Event 
celebrated. The Introit quoting from the Epistle 
for the Day not only announces the Ascension by 
inference, but immediately adds the ever-present 
assurance that “He will come again!” 

The Epistle is the narrative of the historic Fact; 
it repeats the promise of the Holy Ghost; and 
imposes upon them the office of witnessing in all 
the world. Like at His coming the Heavenly Dwell- 
ers spake to those looking up, so at His returning 
they carry the message of promise; and in that hope 
they lived and witnessed. 

The Gospel records the Master’s parting Commis- 
sion to go into all the world and preach the Gospel; 
it also briefly records the Ascension and the En- 
thronement; but it carries farther in that it tells 
of the Commission fulfilled and blessed, in the in- 
spiration of the Ascended Lord—absent yet ever 
present—gone away yet with them always, attested 
with His acceptance. 

The Collect brings a new element into our 
prayers. It is a petition based upon a direct, simple, 
confession of faith, and much as in the Lord’s 
Prayer our seeking forgiveness is based upon our 
own forgiving spirit, so the longed for inspiration 
for our life of service, our communion with our 
Lord, will reveal, be the measure of our faith in our 
ascended Lord and His blessed promises. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Acts 1: 11a, b 
Psalm, Psalm 47:1 


Collect: Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, ut qui 
hodierna die unigenitum tuum redemptorem nostrum ad 
coelos ascendisse credimus, ipsi quoque mente in coelestibus 
habitemus, per eundem. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD 171 


O rex gloriae, Domine virtutum, qui triumphator hodie 
super omnes coelos ascendisti, ne derelinquas nos orphanos; 
sed mitte promissum Patris in nos spiritum veritatis, allel. 


Gregorian, Liber Responsalis. The Collect is a translation 


of an Antiphon. 
Gradual: Psalm 47:5; Psalm 68: 18 


EXAUDI, THE SUNDAY AFTER 
ASCENSION 


; aR Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: Halle- 
ujah. 

When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face: my heart said unto 
Thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek. 

Hide not Thy face from me: Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Psalm: The Lord is my Light, and my Salvation: whom 
shall I fear? 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty, Everlasting God, make us to have 
always a devout will towards Thee, and to serve Thy Majesty 
with a pure heart; through Jesus Christ .. . 


Epistle: I Peter 4: 7-11 Gospel: John 15: 26 to 16: 4 


The Latin name is derived from the first word 
of the Introitt—Exaudi, Hear! The other name de- 
Scribes the historical moment which the Church 
Year emphasizes. It marks a unique period in the 
life of the disciples of Jesus. Back of them but a 
few days is the moment of separation, the Ascen- 
sion; ahead of them, the promise still to be realized, 
is Pentecost. The Lord has ascended; the Com- 
forter has not yet descended; they are “comfort- 
less,” orphans, alone. Various elements contribute 
to show that in this situation they are far from 
sorrowful or fearful. There is no such thing as 
doubt. It is the time of waiting (therefore the day 
is also called Dom. Expectationis) with the longing 
and expectation founded on the promise of the vic- 
torious One, their Lord. “If I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you. If I go away, 
I will send him unto you.” So the threefold chord: 
Easter, “victory”; Ascension, “reigning, glory’; 
Pentecost, “grace.” See how thoroughly the Jn- 

172 


THE SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION 173 


troit, in speaking to the waiting, expectant Church, 
combines all these elements in its spirit. 

The divine purpose in the coming of the Com- 
forter in so far as they (and others who shall be- 
lieve through their word) are concerned, is their 
equipment for their witnessing (the Gospel). He 
will testify of Jesus and they also will be His wit- 
nesses; but they uniquely, as no other group of 
men ever could be, because they had companioned 
with Him from the beginning. As they are His 
representatives (“ambassadors”—Paul) not only is 
the full weight of responsibility, but the full weight 
of enmity to be realized. But have they not “the 
Comforter” ? 

The Epistle catalogues a group of exhortations 
covering the life among themselves, as they wait, 
as they serve. It adds another phase to the idea 
of the Sunday, the waiting Church, waiting for her 
Lord’s return; a hope which was constant in the 
early Church, of the almost immediate return of 
the victorious Jesus. This life is to be lived in ex- 
pectation of His coming !—ministering the Gift re- 
ceived as good stewards of the manifold grace of 
God. Every gift received is to be rendered back 
to the Giver, that God in all things may be glori- 
fied. Does not the Collect grasp all this, so simply 
but pointedly—“serve Thy Majesty with a pure 
heart’”—remember Expectation “the pure in heart 
shall see God’’! 

SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 27: 7, 8, 9 
Psalm, Psalm 27:1 
Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, fac nos tibi semper 
et devotam gerere voluntatem; et maiestati tuae sincero 
corde servire, per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 47:8; John 14:18; 16: 22 


THE FESTIVAL OF PENTECOST, 
WHITSUNDAY 


Introit: The Spirit of the Lord filleth the world: Halle- 
lujah. 

Let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: 
yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 

Psalm: Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered: let 
them also that hate Him“flee before Him. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, who didst teach the hearts of Thy faith- 
ful people, by sending to them on this Day the light of Thy 
Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right 
judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy 
comfort; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Acts 2: 1-13 Gospel: John 14: 23-31 


This Festival is the last of three great festivals 
of equal rank, the Nativity and the Resurrection 
being the others, and closes the fifty-day period 
following Easter, and is therefore called Quinqua- 
gestma. This period is wholly festal in character ; 
games and plays were forbidden, as were also fast- 
ing and kneeling in prayer. All elements of joy 
were restored in the Services and emphasized. The 
name Pentecost came into the Christian use from 
Jewish circles. It was the Greek name used in the 
Septuagint for the Jewish festival which coincided 
with the Christian commemoration, and was pre- 
ferred to the Latin Quinquagesima to avoid con- 
fusion, as the latter is also the name of one of the 
pre-Lent Sundays. The name Pentecost is used in 
the early fathers’ writings in two senses: Ina gen- 
eral sense as being descriptive of the entire period 
of fifty days, and in a restricted sense as denoting 
the Day which ends this period. After the Fourth 

174 


WHITSUNDAY 175 


Century the latter is more and more widely em- 
ployed to mark this very important Feast. 


The Festival, of course, commemorates the De- 
scent of the Promised Comforter, God, the Holy 
Ghost (compare FH pistle and Introit). It is one of 
the two earliest Festivals of the Church. Mention 
of its observance by the early Church Fathers is not 
only frequent, but so made as to show wide and 
long-standing use; and some indications seem to 
point even to apostolic times. 

The original day fell upon an ancient Jewish 
festival, the Feast of Weeks (Ex. 34:22; Deut. 
16:10), also called Pentecost in pre-Christian 
times. This fell exactly seven weeks after the Pass- 
over. In the Jewish economy it marked the giving 
of the Law on Mt. Sinai, therefore the institution 
of the Jewish Church; but it was observed more as 
a festival of thanksgiving for the completed har- 
vest, when two loaves made from the wheat of the 
first gathered sheaves were offered to the Lord. 
The fathers did not fail to make use of the paral- 
lel afforded by the founding of the Jewish Church 
and the Christian Church on this day. 

In some places it was customary to scatter roses 
from the roofs of the churches to recall the descent 
of the Holy Ghost, hence called Pascha rosatum, 
the Paschal Day of Roses; in other places the blow- 
ing of trumpets during the services served to re- 
mind the worshipers of the sound of “the rushing, 
mighty wind.” The liturgical color, red, symbol- 
izes the tongues of fire. 

Whitsunday, the English name, has a somewhat 
varied ancestry. Some have tried to force a very 
improbable derivation from the German Pfingsten. 
The Jews wore White garments for their festal 
_ celebration. This day was of equal standing with 
Easter as a time for baptism (3,000, it will be re- 


176 THE CHURCH YEAR 


membered, were added to the infant Church by 
baptism the first Pentecost), the candidates were, 
of course, dressed in white garments. From these 
antecedents some trace the name White-Sunday, 
adding thereto the glorious heavenly light. The 
descent of the Sevenfold Spirit is played on in the 
old English Wit (wisdom) Sunday. 

The Epistle records the historical narrative. The 
Gospel tells of the coming—the Father and the Son 
to those who love God, and of the sending of the 
Comforter; in what His office consists, and how 
His coming affects the heart of the loving, believ- 
ing disciple. The Collect is doubly rich in its wealth 
of Christian teaching and holy prayerful desire. 
It is a prayer for this Day; but it looks backward 
and forward. Back to the promises, the separation, 
the expectation—‘“Who didst teach the hearts”— 
one recalls the direct promise of the Spirit and His 
‘office: —“of Thy faithful ones’—one recalls the 
Epistle—“They were all with one accord in one 
place’—even Thomas! “Grant us’—the fruit of 
their witness bearing in all the world—‘“by the 
Same Spirit’”—-Who taught them, and all who fol- 
low in their train age after age!—‘“a right judg- 
ment in all things’—“If a man love Me, he will 
keep My words’—Gospel—‘and evermore to re- 
joice in His holy comfort.” “Peace I leave with 
you”—‘“Let not your heart be troubled neither let 
it be afraid.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Wisdom 1:7; Psalm 68:3 
Psalm, Psalm 68: 1 


Collect: Deus, qui hodierna die corda fidelium sancti 
Spiritus illustratione docuisti! da nobis in eodem Spiritu 
recta sapera, et de eius semper consolatione gaudere, per 
Dominum. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 104: 30. Sequence, Veni, sancte Spiritus. 


THE MONDAY IN WHITSUN-WEEK 


Introit: The same as for Whitsunday. 


Collect: O God, Who didst give Thy Holy Spirit to Thine 
Apostles: Grant unto Thy people the performance of their 
petitions, so that on us to whom Thou hast given faith, Thou 
mayest also bestow peace; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Acts 10: 42-48 Gospel: John 3: 16-21 


It is not without point or purpose that the Epistle 
is found to be the continuation of the Epistle of 
Easter Monday. This not only joins these two 
great Festivals, but notes the operation of the 
preaching of the Gospel of the Risen Christ: 
“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost 
fell on all them which heard the word.” The “com- 
mission” obeyed, the “signs following,” etc., are 
present; the Holy Ghost is granted to the Gentiles 
also; besides there is the allusion to the baptism of 
the household. 

The Gospel—one seeks in vain for an adjective 
to describe it—“John 3:16!” Though seemingly 
hidden away on a Monday, when the Christian con- 
gregation seldom gathers, and when one might 
think its teaching would be lost to them, it is one 
of the most significant and eloquent lectionary ap- 
pointments in the entire Church Year. The great 
so-called Festival Cycle of the Church Year built 
around the three great Festivals, commemorations 
of the three great revelations of the love of God, is 
closed; and now, at the termination stands this 
little but magnificent group of verses. Here it 
seems to be summarizing all the reasons for the 
Christian’s joy on Christmas, Easter and Pente- 
cost: The love of God the Father, revealed in the 

177 


178 THE CHURCH YEAR 


sending of His only-begotten Son; the love of God 
the Son, Who was sent not into the world to con- 
demn the world, but that the world through Him 
might be saved; and the working of God the Holy 
Ghost, through Whom is accomplished the condem- 
nation separating those whose deeds are evil and 
who hate the Light, and those who do the Truth 
and come to the Light. 


‘SSOURCES 


Introit and Gradual: See under Pentecost. 


Collect: Deus, qui apostolis tuis scm. dedisti Spiritum, 
concede plebi tuae petitionis effectum, ut quibus dedisti 
fidem, largiaris et pacem per 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


THE FESTIVAL OF THE HOLY 
TRINITY 


RE Blessed be the Holy Trinity, and the undivided 
nity: 

Let us give glory to Him because He hath shown His 
mercy to us. 

Psalm: O Lord, our Lord: how excellent is Thy Name in 
all the earth. 

The Gloria. 

Or, 

Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts: of Him, and 
through Him, and to Him, are all things. 

Psalm: O Lord, our Lord: how excellent is Thy Name in 
all the earth. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast given 
unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true 
faith, to acknowledge the glory of the Eternal Trinity, and in 
the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We 
beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest keep us steadfast in this 
faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities; Who 
livest and reignest, One God, world without end. Amen. 


Epistle: Rom. 11: 38-36 Gospel: John 38: 1-15 


This Festival, although it comprehends all the 
teaching in the events commemorated during the 
past half of the Church Year, and caps them as an 
all-embracing climax, differs radically from all 
other Festivals and days in the year. The Church 
Year is an annual observance of historic events. 
The Festival of the Holy Trinity, on the other hand, 
is an expression of a great Doctrine by the Church, 
and her adoring worship of God, the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost, centralized in this unique expres- 
sion on this Day as the climax of the Year. The | 
Church long hesitated in introducing this Festival, | 
possibly because she feared that some might think 
that by instituting such a Festival she might be 
limiting her honoring of the Most Holy Trinity to 

179 


180 THE CHURCH YEAR 


one day !—and since her worship contained constant 
ascriptions to the Holy Trinity (compare the 
Glorias, the Doxologies, the Terminations of the 
Collects, etc.) she felt no particular necessity for 
such a formal observance. Observance of a day 
in honor of the Holy Trinity passed from one sec- 
tion of the Church to another very slowly through 
many centuries, and only in 1332 obtained formal 
authorization. AG: 

This Sunday was long considered the Octave of 
Pentecost and provided with Propers which har- 
monized with that use: the present Gospel, now 
appointed for the Festival, was originally that of 
the Octave, and its connection with that is apparent. 
Other Propers were chosen for the Festival from 
offices which had been in use in various sections of 
the Church. The Introit, Collect, Gradual and 
Epistle are of these. This strange combination of 
Propers for two various appointments seems to be 
the work of the Reformers. “Thus,” as one of the 
old Lutheran Church Orders remarks, ‘“‘the Chris- 
tian congregation is to be instructed on this day 
(on the basis of Epistles and Gospels) about the 
two great doctrines of Christian teaching, of the 
Holy Trinity and of Regeneration.” 

The Propers are of great and instructive inter- 
est. The connection of the Gospel with Pentecost 
is apparent; it cannot be connected with this Fes- 
tival today, even artificially! The Introit strikes 
the keynote. It is adoration! “Blessed be the Holy 
Trinity,” etc., or “Holy, Holy, Holy”; thus the out- 
pouring of the Church terrestrial as she joins her 
adoration with that of the hosts celestial (compare 
the Preface in the Communion Office). The Epistle 
—“lost in wonder, love and praise!’’—-remember 
the place this Festival occupies, all that has gone 
before, then—of Him are all things! Christmas— 


THE FESTIVAL OF THE HOLY TRINITY 181 


the Cross and Easter—Pentecost and ingathering! 
or again as the Creed summarizes Creation, Re- 
demption, Sanctification. ‘““To Him be glory for- 
ever. Amen.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, An ancient Antiphon, compare Job 12:6 
Psalm, Psalm 8:1 


Antiphon, Isaiah 6:3; Romans 11: 36 
Psalm, Psalm 8: 1 


Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui dedisti famulis 
tuis in confessione verae Fidei, aeternae Trinitatis gloriam 
agnoscere, et in potentia maiestatis adorare Unitatem: 
quaesumus, et ejusdem Fidei firmitate ab omnibus muniamur 
adversi per. 

Found in various editions of the Gregorian Sacramentary 
but evidently a date insertion in these as the Feast was 
peered universally observed only in the time of John XXII, 

ied 1334. 


F Gradual: Daniel 29: 32-34, “The Song of the Three Chil- 
ren.” 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: O Lord, I have trusted in Thy mercy: my heart 
shall rejoice in Thy salvation. 

I will sing unto the Lord: because He hath dealt bounti- 
fully with me. 

Psalm: How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord: How 
long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, the Strength of all them that put their 
trust in Thee: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because 
through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no 
good thing without Thee, grant us the help of Thy grace, 
that in keeping Thy commandments we may please Thee, 
both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I John 4: 16-21 Gospel: Luke 16: 19-31 


The latter half of the Church Year, which we are 
now entering, has sometimes been called the 
Festival-less half of the Year, in contrast with the 
first half, which contains all the Great Festivals; 
but this Season is not without its important Fes- 
tivals, as a glance at the Calendar will show. 

It has also been called the half-year of the 
Church, in contrast with the former, the half year 
of the Lord. This method of dividing the Year, of 
course, pre-Supposes a study of it as a whole, and as 
we have it at present, without any consideration of 
a gradual historical development. There can be 
only one advantage in such a study, and that is a 
schematic development of the Year as far as the 
teaching of Sunday after Sunday may present itself 
to the individual; the result many times being forced 
and artificial. Without question, there is definite 
teaching in every Sunday, but it is best arrived at 
when viewed from the standpoint of historical 
growth. 

182 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 183 


The Trinity Season (originally known as the Sun- 
days after Pentecost until the introduction of the 
Festival of the Holy Trinity and then receiving the 
name we use only in the northern sections of the 
Church) seems originally to have been divided into 
cycles: From Pentecost to St. Peter and Paul’s Day, 
June 29th; then to St. Laurentius’ Day, August 10th; 
then to St. Michael’s Day, September 29th; then to 
Advent. The result of this division is still evident 
in the Season as we have it, as in a normal Church 
Year, the Sunday nearest the Peter-Paul Day has the 
Gospel of the Miraculous Draught of Fishes, Peter’s 
Call. 

The Trinity Season is somewhat of a contrast to 
the preceding portion, but that only because of the 
nature of its objective. The last of the Three Great 
Festivals, immediately preceding, it will be remem- 
bered was Pentecost, the Founding of the Church. 
Now with the Church established, much as we begin 
our Lord’s Day worship, we enter the period of doc- 
trinal foundation and instruction, “In the name of 
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,’”’ Whom we confess 
and adore, and “of Whom, and through Whom, and 
unto Whom are all things.’”’ The period before us is 
that of faith revealed in all its fundamentals; a liv- 
ing, working, loving faith; a period pre-eminently 
practical in application. 

The Introit breathes this tone as it recalls the past, 
“T will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt 
bountifully with me,” and consecrates the present 
and the future, ““My heart shall rejoice in Thy sal- 
vation.” Think only of one verse here, “Behold, now 
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of sal- 
vation.” 


What a wonderful declaration in this light, then, 
is the first phrase of the E’pistle, ‘‘God is love, and 
he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God 


184 THE CHURCH YEAR 


in him!” The basis of the life of faith which spreads 
before the Church is herein declared to rest upon 
the keeping and doing of the Great Commandment 
and the other like unto it, which seem to be in St. 
John’s mind; but as God’s gift (salvation) is the 
giving of Love Divine to us, the response is love 
upon which the emphasis is most naturally placed 
by St. John, for the doing of the Commandments is 
not out of fear or compulsion, but out of love. “We 
love Him, because He.-first loved us.” Does this not 
show itself in the practical application of the keep- 
ing of the Commandments revealed in the Gospel? 
The great motive, “Thy neighbor as thyself.” ‘And 
this Commandment have we from Him, That he who 
loveth God love his brother also”—EH'pistle; love, 
fear, are all there: the whole broad field of the life 
of obedience and faith and love. “If they hear not 
Moses and the prophets,” the rule of life, Divine, re- 
vealed, and one must note complete, as well the time 
of opportunity, ‘while it is today.” 

One must also appreciate how the Collect merges 
with these Lections and their teaching. Notice care- 
fully the address, ‘“‘O God our Strength,” contrast it 
with the confession, ‘‘our weakness—the weakness 
of our mortal nature’’; and observe how this brings 
before us the Gospel as illustration in both respects: 
the weakness of mortal nature, the rich man; God 
the Strength of them that trust, the poor man. Their 
external conditions are not accidental, but of their 
very nature make the point of the application so 
much the more vivid: the one poverty-stricken, 
though rich; the other rich beyond compare, though 
so deplorably poor!—because! Then, too, the Col- 
lect strictly shows that it is of God’s grace that this 
life is lived in a manner well-pleasing unto Him, 
“both in will and deed.” The one may be there 
without the other, “to will is present’”—but to do! 


THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 185 


“They” knew Moses and the prophets, the Command- 
ments, but do them? Dives? “Jf a man say, I love 
God, and hateth his brother (‘And who is my 
brother?’) he is a liar: for he that loveth not his 
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God 
Whom he hath not seen?” 

Thus this first Sunday teaches the fundamental 
that God is Love, and that he who claims to love God 
will unmistakably prove it in loving his brethren; 
only in such an one the love of God dwelleth. Asa 
parabolic example of this, the Gospel; but there is 
another note here. This is the Gospel of the To-day 
—the Day of Grace—promises; now to build upon 
the laid foundation. Now—as we enter this half of 
the Church Year, the Kingdom and the Christian in 
it, will from this day be before us. The Kingdom es- 
tablished—one cannot help but hear the Gospel. This 
is complete—all needed is here—all for life, for 
death, for eternity. Love God. Keep His Com- 
mandments. The Kingdom of Love—and this can 
be lived! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 138: 5, 6 
Psalm, Psalm 13:1 


Collect: Deus, in te sperantium fortitudo, adesto propitius 
invocationibus nostris; et quia sine te nihil potest mortalis 
infirmitas; praesta auxilium gratiae tuae: ut in exequendis 
mandatis tuis et voluntate tibi et actione placeamus, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 41: 4; Psalm 41:1; Psalm 7:1 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: The Lord was my Stay: He brought me forth 
also into a large place. 

He delivered me: because He delighted in me. 

Psalm: I will love Thee, O Lord, my Strength: the Lord 
is my Rock, and my Fortress. 

The Gloria. 5 


Collect: O Lord, Who never ‘ailest to help and govern 
those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and 
love: Make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy 
holy Name; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I John 38: 18-18 Gospel: Luke 14: 16-24 


After a reading of the Lections, one seems to 
feel that there is much similarity in the “teaching” 
of this and last Sunday, in that love again—espe- 
cially in the E’pistle—seems to be emphasized; but 
this is only at first glance. There it was one phase 
of this wonderful gift; here it is another. Today 
the Love of God is revealed in all its gracious giv- 
ing, and it is this that strikes the keynote of the 
day: The Kingdom of Grace declared. The Gospel 
is the guide to this teaching, wide-reaching in its 
full description, summarized so completely in the 
Master’s Parable of the Great Supper, wherein the 
emphasis is naturally to be laid upon the Supper 
prepared, and the Invitation to “Come, for all 
things are now ready,” as well the elements of re- 
jection and acceptance, and the urgent command 
to furnish it with guests. Parabolically, here is 
the whole Gospel with its invitation to you, to me, 
to accept all that has been done for us. 

Think of this from the standpoint of the Church 
Year, realizing we are but a short step from the 
newly-founded Church. Here is her message, her 

186 


THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 187 


invitation, the Kingdom of Grace declared to all 
the world. But, after all, it is individualized. And 
the Introit certainly “tones” with all this most 
markedly: ‘The Lord brought me forth into a 
large place. He delivered me: because He delighted 
in me.” One instantly thinks of “By grace are ye 
saved... It is the gift of God.” 


But though this Gift is prepared, is free, is off- 
ered, is to be freely enjoyed, the grave sense of re- 
sponsibility to accept, to respond, is also here. 
Without any forcing, definite lines of teaching lead 
from the Hpistle which harmonizes with the gen- 
eral thought of the Day. The excuses of the Gospel 
are of the worldly, selfish heart—one may truth- 
fully add irreverent—but that is the result of world- 
liness. Can it not be said that there must have been 
some “friendliness” there, if only sham, or there 
would have been no invitation—something upon 
which, from which, to start? Now the Epistle 
warns the believer of the hatred of the world which 
one may be sure will not show itself as hate, but in 
just those ways which undermine faith and devo- 
tion and reverence and love; and it exhorts to a 
vital love, “in deed and in truth,” marking the 
“Jove” “in word or in tongue” as sham and hy- 
pocrisy. The genuine love, a sacrificial love the 
Epistle teaches, is exemplified in a most practical 
way, in love of the brethren (last Sunday the love 
of God was emphasized) after the great example 
of God Whose gifts are offered us through His 
great sacrifice. One cannot accept and come to the 
Supper save as a lover of God and the brethren. 
With last Sunday teaching the fundamentally prac- 
tical, livable Christianity, this Sunday adds that it 
must be one hundred per cent. genuine. The [ntroit, 
“T will love Thee, O Lord, my strength!’ 


The Collect contributes, among the many things 


188 THE CHURCH YEAR 


it summarizes so beautifully, first this encourage- 
ment, that God never fails (think of the “excuses’”’) 
to help and govern those whom He is drawing, 
“bringing up,” that is, nurturing; one thinks of the 
young Church, and one must think of the growing 
Christian who day by day must grow in grace and 
in the knowledge of His Lord. Then it places on our 
lips (in our hearts?) the petition for a perpetual 
fear (not that fear is meant which neutralizes love, 
or “hath torment,” but reverence, the spirit of 
adoration) and love of His holy name—“I have 
called thee by My name; thou art Mine!” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 18: 18b, 19 
Psalm, Psalm 18:1, 2a 


Collect: Sancti nominis tui, Domine, timorem et amorem 
fac nos habere perpetuum; quia nunquam tua gubernatione 
destitutes, quos in soliditate tuae dilectionis institutes, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 120:1; Psalm 120: 2; Psalm 7:17 


THE THIRDSUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me: 
for I am desolate and afflicted. 

_Look upon mine affliction and my pain: and forgive all my 
sins. 

Psalm: Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: O my 
God, I trust in Thee let me not be ashamed. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, 
without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase 
and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler 
and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that 
a finally lose not the things eternal; through Jesus 

Tistecr... 


Epistle: I Peter 5: 6-11 Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10 


Between the Introit and the Gospel there is a 
very rich harmony. The cry of the Introit is that 
of the desolation and affliction of sin, of the world- 
torn soul hungering for God. To this the Gospel 
answers in the Voice which spake the Parables of 
the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin to that throng- 
ing group of publicans and sinners, a message of 
comfort, welcome, joy. Last Sunday brought the 
invitation “Come’’; today goes even farther in the 
revealing love of Him Who has prepared the ‘‘good 
things.” ‘The Son of Man is come to seek and save 
that which was lost.” Here is the Kingdom of 
Grace applied and its distinctive principle, the seek- 
ing of the lost and the joy over the restored. The 
trilogy of Parables emphasizes this markedly (for 
to the Gospel should be added in our thought the 
Parable of the Lost Son), and as the ratio lessens 
from one out of a hundred to one of ten, then one 
of two, the sense of loss rises; the infinite value of 
the soul to God is revealed and the lengths to which 

189 


190 THE CHURCH YEAR 


He in His love will go to find it, to restore it. So 
the Church must follow the divine example. Her 
invitation must be joined with the one response she 
can make to the ery of the desolate, after the ex-- 
ample of her Head, she will “seek diligently till 
she find it,’ and she will have joy in having found! 


The Epistle leads us to the rest of the Flock. 
Perhaps there was some thought when the Epistle 
was first chosen that it would be wise in this con- 
nection to warn the “Ninety and Nine” of the 
dangers which are constantly threatening them, 
and just where they are—so that no false sense of 
security engender carelessness. ‘Your adversary, 
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking 
whom he may devour,” is an exceedingly pertinent 
warning to the ninety-nine sheep left in the wilder- 
ness—“that are in the world,” says the Epistle; 
and the afflictions, carelessness (really trustless- 
ness)—one cannot but think of how self-reliant, 
self-sufficient some feel themselves to be!—are just 
the forms of danger that may result in their be- 
coming the lost. But to warning is joined exhorta- 
tion: “Humble yourselves’”—remember “God re- 
sisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble” ; 
“be sober, be vigilant”; “resist steadfast in the 
faith’—remember “I can do all things through 
Christ Who strengtheneth me.” Then follows com- 
fort for the steadfast in the Apostle’s prayer, reach- 
ing even to the now, to the “God of Grace”’—“My 
grace is sufficient for thee.” And the Collect ad- 
dresses Him as the Protector of all that trust in Him 
(compare the last verse of Jntroit) without whom 
nothing is strong, nothing is holy, and asks humbly 
for that shepherding care, guardianship and direc- 
tion through the perils of the present that we 
finally (even at the end—makes one think of those 
men at the end of the day, who had borne its bur- 


THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 191 


den and heat and yet...) lose not the things 
eternal. 

Have you noticed the addresses of the Collects 
of this and the two preceding Lord’s Days? 


O God—the Strength of them that put their trust 
in Thee”... “God is love—He that dwelleth in love 
dwelleth in God, and God in him.” The beggar 
named Lazarus! ... “O Lord, I have trusted in Thy 
mercy!” 

O God—Who never failest to help and govern 
those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast 
fear and love” ... “The Lord was my stay. He 
brought me forth also into a large place”... 
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He 
laid down His life for us.” 

O God—the Protector of all that trust in Thee, 
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy” 
... ‘The God of all grace, Who hath called us unto 
His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye 
have suffered awhile, make you perfect, establish, 
strengthen, settle you.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 25: 16, 18 
Psalm, Psalm 25:1, 2a 


Collect: Protector in te sperantium Deus, sine quo nihil 
est validum, nihil sanctum, multiplica super nos miseri- 
cordiam tuam, ut te rectare, te duce sic transeamus per bona 
temporalia, ut non amittamus aeterna, per Dnm. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 55: 22; Psalm 55: 16, 18a; Psalm 18:1, 2a 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom 
shall I fear: The Lord is the Strength of my life; of whom 
shall I be afraid? 

When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came 
upon me: they stumbled and fell. 

Psalm: Though an host should encamp against me: my 
heart shall not fear. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course 
of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy govern- 
ance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly 
quietness; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Romans 8: 18-23 Gospel: Luke 6: 36-42 


The Church filled with the blessed comfort which 
last Sunday’s message of God’s loving protection 
assured to all who trust in Him, lifts her voice in — 
courageous faith in today’s Introit: “The Lord is 
my Light and my Salvation, whom shall I fear? 
The Lord is the Strength of my life, of whom shall 
I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against 
me, my heart shall not fear.” Full well is this abso- 
lute trust and courageous faith needed, for there 
is an host camped round about! The misery both 
in man and in the world, “the sufferings of this 
present time,” the “vanity” under which creation 
is groaning and travailing, and the adversities of 
even those “who have the first fruits of the Spirit,” 
all these the E'pistle shows; enough to overwhelm 
a stout heart; such things as shipwreck many an 
one’s faith. But the Apostle Paul does not write 
in any uncertain way (what of his own experience 
with the world?) ; it is not that he thinks or hopes, 

192 


THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 193 


but firmly, deliberately I reckon these things “are 
not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
shall be revealed in us.” He admits the existence 
of these things, that they are suffering and misery; 
but he teaches their transcience, their purpose, 
their end, to those who trust; and faith can sing 
courageously in the midst of this present time 
“The LorD is my Light and my Salvation—the 
Lord is the Strength of my Life, of whom shall I 
be afraid?” This was—and is—a mighty message 
to the Church that was to pass through persecution 
and trial, that was to be the martyr, witness-bear- 
ing, Church! 

This leads to one phase of the teaching of the 
Day, the individual in the Kingdom of Grace; and 
the Gospel adds some of the distinctive marks of 
the individual in this state of Grace. We may be 
“waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our 
body”: the future, in God’s time, may promise us 
“the glorious liberty of the children of God”; but 
there is much for us to do if we are not to lose 
the things eternal, if we are to find that Peace in 
Which we may serve Him in godly quietness (Col- 
lect). “As your Father,” “be merciful, judge not, 
condemn not, forgive;” lacking these or failing in 
these, are we not adding misery of our making to 
others and ourselves? The blind leader, the mote 
so easily seen in the brother’s eye—more misery? 
God, Who in His mercy has prepared such good 
things for us, is to be our pattern; and His loving 
mercy to us the motive and measure of ours in our 
relationship with others. 

The Collect whose harmony with the Epistle is 
readily apparent, comes to us from the Sacra- 
mentary of Leo the Great, who was bishop of Rome 
during most troublous times; the city and country- 
side were under almost constant attack, and rav- 


194 THE CHURCH YEAR 


aged by the hordes of barbarians from the North. 
Knowing the external circumstances during which 
the Collect was written, makes its petition all the 
more pointed in its spiritual application. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 27:1, 2 
Psalm: Psalm 27: 3a 
Collect: Da nobis, Domine Deus noster, ut et mundi cursus 
pacifice nobis tuo ordine dirigatur, et ecclesia tua tranquilla 
devotione laetetur, per. 
Leonine Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 79: 9c, 10; Psalm 79:9; Psalm 21:1 


THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: Thou 
hast been my help. 

Leave me not, neither forsake me: O God of my Salvation. 

Psalm: The Lord is my Light and my Salvation: whom 
shall I fear? 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who hast prepared for them that love Thee 
such good things as pass man’s understanding: Pour into 
our hearts such love toward Thee, that we, loving Thee above 
all things, may obtain Thy promises, which exceed all that 
we can desire; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I Peter 3: 8-15 Gospel: Luke 5: 1-11 


With this Sunday we reach a very interesting 
place in the Church Year. In a normal Church 
Year this Sunday with its Gospel of the Miraculous 
Draught of Fishes and the Call of St. Peter pre- 
cedes the Day of St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29th. 
When it is remembered that Easter and Pentecost 
are variable dates it will be seen that this Sunday 
may succeed, by even a week or more, the invari- 
able date of the Peter-Paul Day, something it was 
never intended to do, as this Sunday’s Lections in 
the early Church’s use were invariably appointed 
for the Sunday immediately preceding the Apostles’ 
Day, no matter whether the intervening period 
would contain the full number of Sundays or not. 
This appointment was made to prepare for the 
celebration of this Apostle’s Day, which was looked 
upon as a very high feast, and very popular with 
the people. Accordingly, if Pentecost fell on a late 
date the necessary number of Sunday appointments 
would be omitted in order to bring this Gospel on 
the Sunday before. Now the Sundays are omitted 

195 


| 


196 THE CHURCH YEAR 


or added at the end of the Trinity Season, as refer- 
ence to the Rubrics will show. 

This Sunday, then, with its illustrative Propers, 
closes the first of the smaller cycles within the Trin- 
ity Season. It may be called the cycle of the Invi- 
tatron, or the Call, to the Kingdom of Grace. Each 

of the Sundays in “it has developed some teaching 

relating to this, and even this last Sunday, with its 
chronological and deliberately planned relation 
with a Lesser Festival, does not break the cycle. 

The Introit appears deliberately to turn St. 
Peter’s cry about. In the Gospel he cries, “Depart 
from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’”’—but the 
cry we hear is “Hear, O Lord, when I cry!’— 
“Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my 
salvation.” The Introit is voicing the conscious 
need of the believing child of God. Even though 
he knows he falls into sin daily, he cries to Him 
Who forgives the truly penitent, Who “has pre- 
pared for those that love Him such good things as 
pass man’s understanding,’ Who cannot forsake 
His own. 

The Gospel, of course, is the Call of St. Peter to 
follow the Master, to become a fisher of men. Not 
only his response to the Call, but that of his com- 
panions, forsaking all to follow, illustrates one of 
the great objectives of the Kingdom of Grace: to 
raise up men, who, seeing “the good things pre- 
pared,” are moved to give up all gladly—“‘Love Him 
above all things,” as the Collect says—and give 
themselves to His service, the Ministry of Grace, 
the witnessing for Him. The Epistle adds to this 
a unique blessing. 

Does not the E’pistle,—so rich in exhortation to 
practical Christian living: service, attitude towards 
others,—and coming as it does from the pen of St. 
Peter so many years after his entrance into this 


THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 197 


service of the Master,—reveal the mind and heart of 
one who has responded; who has made the sacri- 
fice of self, and is now showing others the privilege 
of this holy fellowship? What eloquent words, not 
the eloquence of words but of life! Like St. Paul, 
he had counted all the world loss, that he might 
gain Christ; all the world could force upon him 
could not make him waver now. He had learned! 
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, 
and His ears are open unto their prayers.” “‘Who 
is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that 
which is good?” “If ye suffer for righteousness’ 
sake, happy are ye.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 27: 7a, 8b, 8¢ 
Psalm, Psalm 27: 1 


Collect: Deus, qui diligentibus te bona invisibilia praepar- 
asti; infunde cordibus nostris tui amoris affectum ut te in 
omnibus et super omnia diligentes, promissiones tuas, quae 
omne desiderium superant, consequamur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 84:8, 9; Psalm 31:1, 2 


THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: The Lord is the strength of His people: He is the 
saving strength of His anointed. 

Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance: feed them 
also, and lift them up forever. 

Psalm: Unto Thee will I ery, O Lord, my Rock; be not 
silent unto me: lest if Thou be silent to me, I become like 
them that go down into the pit. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Lord of all power and might, Who art the Author 
and Giver of all good things: Grant in our hearts the love 
of Thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with 
all goodness, and of Thy great mercy keep us in the same; 
through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: Rom. 6: 8-11 Gospel: Matt. 5: 20-26 


Although the Trinity Season is not marked by 
great outstanding festivals about which definite 
Seasons (groups of Sundays with their related 
teaching) are arranged, as in the first half of the 
Church Year, it nevertheless appears as well 
ordered and purposeful in its development. The 
lessons emphasized by this period are doctrinal and 
practical, and are arranged in group cycles, each 
one seeming to have some general definite topic, the 
different phases of which the Sundays of the group 
point out. 

The second of these smaller Trinity Cycles begins 
with this Sunday. It will end with St. Laurentius’ 
Day, August 10th. 

As the first, broadly speaking, dealt with the 
Kingdom of Grace and the Call to enter therein, so 
this group of Sundays is rich with practical indi- 
cations of the Right Manner of Life in the Kingdom 
of Grace. We read that “The Kingdom of God is 
righteousness, joy and peace... ” “into which none 

198 


THE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 199 


but the righteous can enter.” So this cycle is to 
teach about the new life of righteousness. 

Both Epistle and Gospel lead to this. The Epistle 
in two places speaks of the “walk in newness of 
life” and that we are to “reckon ourselves to be 
dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through 
Jesus Christ our Lord.” Its subject is the Sacra- 
ment of Baptism, called sometimes the Sacrament 
of Initiation, Entrance into the Kingdom. It de- 
scribes the nature of Baptism and the duties which 
it imposes. It does more than point to, it reveals 
the new life, the life of righteousness, and that a 
life of the completest fellowship with the Crucified 
and Risen Christ. Now in direct line with this, 
but entirely from the practical side, comes the 
Gospel with its harmonizing teaching. In contrast 
with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, 
models of the righteousness of the Law, is revealed 
the righteousness of the new life—“alive unto God!” 
The goal for which those called to the Kingdom 
are to strive to attain, if they would be well pleas- 
ing unto Him—“enter into the Kingdom,’—is a 
righteousness which exceeds that of the letter of 
the Law. It is that “true religion” for which the 
Collect prays, which springs from the “engrafted 
love of God’s Name.” The new life of this King- 
dom has a new motive. The old was fear-driven 
obedience, the new is grace-inspired Love: love of 
God and love which raises every idea of duty we 
owe our fellow-men, 


200 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 28: 8, 9 
Psalm, Psalm 28: 1 


Collect: Deus virtutem, cujus est totum, quod est optimum; 
insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis: et praesta ut 
et nobis religionis augmentum: quae sunt bona nutrias; ac 
vigilantia studium, quaesumus, nutrita custodias, per. 


Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 90:13; Psalm 90:1; Psalm 47:1 


& 


THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: O clap your hands: all ye people. 

Shout unto God: with the voice of triumph. 

Psalm: He shall subdue the people under us: and the 
nations under our feet. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Whose never-failing Providence ordereth 
all things both in heaven and earth: We humbly beseech 
Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us 
pene things which be profitable for us; through Jesus 
Ghrist..eeu: 


Epistle: Rom. 6: 19-23 Gospel: Mark 8: 1-9 


The fact that this Sunday with its Gospel of the 
Miraculous Feeding of the Four Thousand, by 
happy coincidence, comes at the time of the grain 
harvest, has been a temptation to some to consider 
this appointment designed to teach the providential, 
bounteous care of our Heavenly Father; and one 
could also point to the opening phrase of the Collect 
in substantiation. But while this application of 
the Gospel might be made without any forcing or 
false interpretation, it is not in its primary teach- 
ing, nor the teaching drawn from it as far as its 
place in the Church Year is concerned. Besides, 
one must remember that the Lectionary comes to 
us through many centuries, originally from the 
ancient Church of Rome where this time of the 
year is not the time of harvest. 

The first lead to the Sunday’s teaching is in the 
Epistle. It is to be remembered that it is the new 
life of righteousness that is being held before the 
believer as the goal of his endeavor, that this is 
being progressively developed Sunday after Sun- 

201 


202 THE CHURCH YEAR 


day. The Epistle contains not only the exhorta- 
tion to “yield our members servants to righteous- 
ness unto holiness,” but also begins to talk straight- 
forwardly of “fruit” and “wages”; production and 
return! And the contrast that is drawn is sharp, 
simple and definite. While the servant of sin earns 
the wages of death, the bond-servant of God receives 
the gift of God, which is eternal life. 

To this the Gospel adds its message of supreme 
comfort for the single-minded striver, who is ever 
feeling the weight of those things which are seek- 
ing to weaken his purpose, handicap and defeat 
his effort, and vitiate his service. Comfort and as- 
surance! “I have compassion on the multitude.” 
Here is the Blessed One Whose never-failing provi- 
dence ordereth all things in heaven and earth, Who 
is able to put away from us all hurtful things and 
give us those things which be profitable for us 
(Collect). Here are the compensations of faithful, 
persevering service: the sympathy of Jesus, His 
considerateness, His bounty. ‘Seek ye first the 
Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all 
these things shall be added unto you.” Is it any 
wonder that the song of the Church this day is one 
of triumphant rejoicing? ‘“O clap your hands, all 
ye people! Shout unto God with the voice of 
triumph!” (Intrott). 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 47:1 
Psalm, Psalm 47: 8 
Collect: Deus, cujus providentia in sui dispositione non 
fallitur; te supplices exoramus: ut noxia cuncta submoveas; 
et omnia nobis profutura concedas, per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 34:11; Psalm 34:5; Psalm 59: 1 


THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: We have thought of Thy loving kindness, O God: 
in the midst of Thy Temple. 

According to Thy Name, O God, so is Thy praise unto the 
ends of the earth: Thy right hand is full of righteousness. 

Psalm: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: in 
the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the Spirit to 
think and to do always such things as are right; that we, 
who cannot do anything that is good without Thee, may by 
cee be enabled to live according to Thy will; through Jesus 

TIStee weir. 


Epistle: Rom. 8: 12-17 Gospel: Matt. 7: 15-23 


9 he Last Sunday’s Epistle placed the old life and the 
new life in contrast: the one as the bondage of sin 
which leads to shame and finally ends in death, the 
other as the service of God which blossoms into 
holiness and is crowned with the gift of eternal 
life. In this Sunday’s Epistle, the old_life, the 
service of sin, is shown as the life after the flesh, / 
and the new, the service of God, in a sweeter, closer 
way, as the life in the Spirit, the Spirit of adoption, 
the life of the sons of God. Two opposite poles are 
here; the contrast is most sharply drawn. To this 
life in the Spirit we have been called, led, outfitted 
for it, nourished in it, enriched and protected! Our 
debt is not to the flesh—what good thing has that 
done for us?—‘“Ye have received the Spirit of adop- 
tion whereby we cry Abba, Father.” We means 
children, joint heirs with His Son. It is here the 
Introit finds the inspiration for its song: ‘‘We have 
thought of Thy loving kindness, O God’—adop- 
tion! “In the midst of Thy temple,” the earthly 

203 





204 THE CHURCH YEAR 


home of the soul. And since we are named with 
His Name, His children, so our life of service must 
be a praise to His Name, far and wide. Therefore 
we ask in the Collect for the Spirit to think and do 
always such things as be right, that we may be 
enabled to live according to God’s will. The hin- 
drances are many, great and constant; they also 
are attractive, seductive. The false spirits would 
lead away; and, while seemingly attractive and 
harmless, will only prove themselves to be hard 
masters of a slavery that leads to destruction! The 
believer dare not pause or look back, or permit him- 
self to be drawn away from that end for which he 
is striving, where such a wonderful promise 
awaits.... “if so be that we suffer with Him, that 
we may be also glorified together.” The Gospel 
carries a stern warning here, to guard ourselves 
against the deceit of the false prophets, as well as 
the false leadings of our own heart; and in it our 
Master gives uS a Sure and universal test by which 
ail things are to be tried: ‘Ye shall know them by 
their fruits.” Sham righteousness—sham religion 
—sham service—hypocrisy! “As many as are led 
by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God!” 
Such only do the will of the Father in Heaven. 





SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 48:9, 10 
Psalm, Psalm 48: 1 
Collect: Largire nobis, Domine, quaesumus, spiritum cogi- 
tandi, quae bona sunt, promtius et agendi; ut qui sine te esse 
non possumus, secundum te vivere valeamus, per. 
Leonine Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psaim 31:2; Psalm 31:1; Psalm 1:6 


THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Behold, God is mine Helper: the Lord is with them 
that uphold my soul. 

He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in 
Thy truth, O Lord. 

Psalm: Save me, O God. by Thy Name: and judge me by 
Thy strength. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the 
prayers of Thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain 
their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please 
Thee; through Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I Cor. 10: 6-13 Gospel: Luke 16:1-9 


Luther wrote in connection with the E'pisile: 
“This is a very earnest warning, which St. Paul 
addresses to the Church. He holds before them some 
very terrifying examples which he especially chose 
from the actions of God’s chosen people, ancient 
Israel. And this is the reason and meaning of the 
Epistle: The Corinthians began to think them- 
selves perfectly secure, since they had Christ, Bap- 
tism and the Holy Sacrament and therefore thought 
that nothing more could be lacking or needed in 
them.” This is exactly the point of the teaching 
of the Sunday developed from two sides in Epistle 
and Gospel. ‘Wherefore let him that thinketh he 
standeth take heed lest he fall.” ‘Now these things 
were our examples, and they are written for our 
admonition.” Seemingly so sure of all the gifts 
aud blessings, of all the promises and protection, 
surely one need not worry or care, everything is 
bound to be ours! So oversure becomes careless- 
ness, and then, indifference. Because we are God’s 

205 


206 THE CHURCH YEAR 


people, He is bound to care for us—yes, but what 
of the “us’? With watchfulness and determined 
effort, and genuineness and loyalty relaxed, the 
“temptation taketh,” and its end is destruction, 
unless the “sure way to escape” be grasped. 


The new life of Righteousness is ours; from the 
servitude of sin we have been called to sonship: 
God’s children, joint-heirs with Christ, the Gift-to- 
be, Eternal Life. All this of love and grace, so 
Divinely generous, -so lovingly free; but, oh, the 
warning. It can so easily be lost! ‘“‘Give an ac- 
count of thy stewardship!”—He had wasted HIS 
goods!” This wonderful Gospel, the Parable of the 
Unjust Steward, reveals the progressive condition 
of the one, who, through one self-deluding process 
after another, loses all sense of responsibility, 
honesty, honorable duty, loyalty, of return, of ac- 
countability, until too late to retain his Lord’s trust 
he uses the keen wisdom for self-protection and 
self-preservation which he should have used honor- 
ably before, to make for himself a refuge in his 
disgrace when he could have had a home with love 
and honor. 


This application of the “wisdom” of the children 
of this world is to be turned to a lesson for the 
children of light. With that will, with that care, 
that keen thought, far-sighted wisdom, use every 
opportunity to “redeem the time,” to administer the 
“sift” entrusted; that instead of “He had wasted 
his goods” it may be ‘Well done, good and faithful 
steward. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” 
Take the example of God’s people as warnings. See 
the temptations that were not resisted because they 
were oversure, and then heedless. On guard! “I 
say unto you, Watch!” Then God’s help, the faithful 
One, will make the way to escape. And the Collect, 
“make us to ask such things as shall please Thee,” 


THE NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 207 


to be given the easy road? No; but for strength to 
persevere, to stand, to be faithful. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 54: 4, 5 
Psalm, Psalm 54:1 
Collect: Ad aures misericordiae tuae, Domine, supplicum 
vota perveniant; et ut possimus impetrare, quae poscimus, 
fac, nos semper tibi placita postulare, per. 
Leonine Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 8:1; Psalm 78:1 


THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: As for me, I will call upon God, and He shall 
hear my voice: He hath delivered my soul in peace from the 
battle that was against me. 

God shall hear and afflict them, even He that abideth of 
oat Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain 
thee. > 

Psalm: Give ear to my prayer, O God: and hide not Thy- 
self from my supplication. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, Who declarest Thine Almighty power 
chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us 
such a measure of Thy grace, that we, running the way of 
Thy commandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises, and 
Me made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus 

TRLSt ad 


Epistle: I Cor. 12: 1-11 Gospel: Luke 19: 41-48 


One wonders at times how a popular fancy can 
attach itself to a certain Sunday and its appoint- 
ments, especially in the face of so much evidence 
against it. For example, this Sunday, the Tenth 
after Trinity with its Gospel of the Prophecy of 
Jerusalem’s Destruction has popularly been ex- 
plained as thus arranged because Jerusalem was 
twice destroyed on a date reckoned to be the tenth 
of August! Now if this Sunday always fell on or 
near the tenth of August, there might be some little 
reason for this, but seldom is this the case. 

On the other hand, the Sunday ranges one step 
farther in progressive teaching. With last Sunday 
holding up the Unjust Steward as a warning and 
“commending” his worldly wisdom that the Chris- 
tian might learn thereby to be as keenly awake to 
eternal opportunities, one can quickly and surely 
find outstanding key-words for today: ‘Knowest 
not the time of thy visitation”... “The things which 

208 


THE TENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 209 


belong unto thy peace” (Gospel). Perhaps one will 
think this mere repetition, since the Gospel tells of 
Jerusalem’s failure to know the time of her visita- 
tion, shows her failure in her stewardship, as one 
sees her desecrating the Temple of Jehovah and 
His worship—they had “wisdom,” but the wrong 
kind; as one sees her fickleness, her rejection of her 
Lord. But to this is added one more thing. Because 
of this all comes her doom! Relentless, terrible, 
utterly destroying! ‘To them doom—to us warning. 

How pointedly the Collect harmonizes: God’s 
covenant with Israel, His own, held forth to them 
“gracious promises” and made them “‘partakers of 
His heavenly treasure,” both now and to be! But 
how constantly He had been called upon to show 
them His “mercy and pity,” and were not these 
evidences of His “almighty power’? ... and “last 
of all... His Son!” But Israel had spurned “His 
grace’ and refused “to run the way of His com- 
mandments” ... Knew not the things which be- 
longed unto her peace! 

As we think of these things, the greatest ex- 
ample of the misuse and spurning of God’s grace, 
His spiritual gifts, is not the E’'pistle’s exhortation 
strictly in point? ... that we be not ignorant con- 
cerning spiritual gifts? The Corinthian Church 
seemed to be particularly rich in evidences of these 
gifts, but there were some things apparently 
wrong; others which threatened grave conse- 
quences. Perhaps there was pride, or rivalry, or 
envy, or demand for precedence; perhaps they were 
falling into the grave error of forgetting the source, 
and privilege, and purpose, of these gifts. At all 
events they needed to be reminded of terrible 
dangers and consequences following misuse or 
abuse. They needed to know the one Source of 
all; the divine reason in their diversity; and the 


210 THE CHURCH YEAR 


purpose, “to profit withal”; and should this not be 
emphasized, “But the manifestation of the Spirit 
is given to every man to profit withal,” individual- 
izing accountability? (Here, too, the Collect will 
prove its helpfulness.) Corinth in danger! Jeru- 
salem doomed !—because she heeded not! “Where- 
fore I give you to understand that no man speak- 
ing by the Spirit of God ealleth Jesus accursed” 
_.. Jerusalem: “Crucify Him! Away with Him!” 
_.. “and that no man can say that Jesus is the 
Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” “To every man is 
given!” 

Today we learn the full consequences of refusing 
to know the time of our visitation; call it gift, privi- 
lege, opportunity, stewardship, what one will... 
it is to acknowledge and receive Jesus as Lord; and 
to use the gifts of grace to His glory! As one 
thinks of the dangers of the professing Christian, 
and how terrible the consequences of deliberately 
following the known wrong way, one will find the 
Introit full of comfort and instilling courage. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 55: 16a, 17b, 18a, 19a, 22a 
Psalm, Psalm 55: 1 


Collect: Deus, qui omnipotentiam tuam parcendo maxime 
et miserando manifestas; multiplica super nos gratiam 
tuam: ut ad tua promissa currentes, caelestium bonorum 
facias esse consortes. Per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 17: 8; Psalm 17: 2; Psalm 59:1 


THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
| TRINITY 


Introit: God is in His holy habitation: He is God Who 
setteth the solitary in families. 

The God of Israel is He that giveth strength: and power 
unto His people. 

Psalm: Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered: let 
them also that hate Him flee before Him. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who art always 
more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give 
more than either we desire or deserve: Pour down upon us 
the abundance of Thy mercy, forgiving us those things 
whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good 
things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the 
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ... 


Epistle: I Cor. 15: 1-10 Gospel: Luke 18: 9-14 


The second of the smaller Trinity Cycles closes 
with this Sunday. Its general subject has been 
The New Life of Righteousness. Sunday after Sun- 
day some phase of it, or something bearing directly 
upon it has been brought to us: Held out as the 
goal of every Christian endeavor, “‘the better right- 
eousness”; added to it “the gift of God,” assurance 
of eternal blessing as well as God’s compassionate 
care of us daily; warned of the false leaders and 
teachings which would draw us into other paths 
of life and service; exhorted to that concentration 
and consecration to be loyal, to be true, to be keenly 
alive to our stewardship and its eternal possibili- 
ties; for faithlessness, fickleness—if we know not 
the time of our visitation—brings the doom of 
eternal loss. To this, this present Sunday adds the 
lesson: no matter how externally good the life of 
righteousness may appear, it must spring from 
that deep humility and consciousness of need which 

211 


212 THE CHURCH YEAR 


seeks communion with God, pours out its very self 
to Him, comes to the “Home of the Soul” for that 
outpouring and in-gathering which carries with it 
divine acceptance and benediction. 

Begin, then, with the Introit! “God is in His 
holy habitation” . . . God, Who is “ready to hear 
_.. and wont to give’ (Collect) ... ‘Who giveth 
strength and power unto His people!” “TI'wo men 
went up into the temple to pray” (Gospel). It is 
here in His Church, we seek Him; here we are to 
bring our worship and our needs. We can learn 
from the Gospel as we hear of the Pharisee and the 
Publican, not only the kinds of people who “go to 
Church,” but the wrong and the right way of go- 
ing; the wrong and the right way of worshiping; 
the wrong and the right kind of heart to carry 
there; the wrong and the right way to pray! Un- 
happily, a great deal of the Pharisee finds its way 
into our hearts, into our churches, into our worship. 
Pride in what we do, boasting of our accomplish- 
ments, feeling one’s self better than others, prone- 
ness to judge others in their life and deed, are but 
a few indications, but unhappily true ones. It 
seems that a phrase of the E’'pistle was meant just 
for this situation. This could not be “if ye keep in 
memory what I”... Who? St. Paul?—Yes... and 


the Pastor... “preached unto you”... this eternal 
Gospel of mercy, “how that Christ died for our 
sins!” ... “unless ye have believed in vain.” Like 


the Pharisee, “Christianity” can be so superficially 
fine, laudable in its deeds, exact in performance of 
obligations, but at the same time “dead.” “Man 
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord 
looketh on the heart.” So our Lord draws the con- 
trast most sharply and carefully, and purposefully! 
“Of all men, the most miserable,” that poor Pub- 
lican, outcast, fearful, hesitant, but humble and 


THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 213 


hungrily devout: here is the heart seeking the 
‘“mercy-seat.” Truest worship of God is such an 
entrance into His presence, such casting one’s self 
upon His love. “Christ died for our sins.” ... “I 
declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto 
you”: that is what meets such approach: welcome, 
acceptance, remedy, healing. How vastly different 
the “boasting” of a heart received! Not “God, I 
thank Thee that I am not as other men—I do this— 
I do that—;” but “By the grace of God I am what 
Iam...and His grace which was bestowed upon 
me was not in vain” (Fpistle). 

What a masterful contrast these two Lections 
bring us. The Pharisee of the Gospel, unconverted, 
consumed with his own importance, so self-satisfied, 
and the great converted Pharisee who wrote the 
Epistle! “TI am the least of the Apostles, who am 
not meet to be called an Apostle’; ascribing all he 
is and has been enabled to do to the Grace of 
God, conscious of, ever humbled by, the remem- 
brance of what he had been! The Spirit of the 
Publican of the Gospel! 

The harmony existing between the Epistle and 
Gospel, and the Collect is especially beautiful and 
worthy of quiet meditation; it is such a glorious 
prayer. As you read it, think of both St. Paul and 
the humble Publican. And may one suggest, that 
it serves as a wonderful little prayer with which to 
begin one’s devotions in one’s pew as one bows be- 
fore God in His house? 


214 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 68: 5b, 6a, 35b 
Psalm, Psalm 68: 1 


Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui abundantia 
pietatis tuae et merita supplicum excedis et vota; effunde 
super nos misericordiam tuam ut dimittas quae conscientia 
metuit; et adjicias quod oration non praesumit, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 28:7; Psalm 28:1, 2a; Psalm 65:1 


THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Make haste, O God, to deliver me: make haste to 
help me, O Lord. 

ee them be ashamed and confounded: that seek after my 
soul. 

Psalm: Let them be turned backward, and put to con- 
fusion: that desire my hurt. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Merciful God, of Whose only gift it 
cometh that Thy faithful people do unto Thee true and laud- 
able service: Grant we beseech Thee, that we may so faith- 
fully serve Thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain 
Thy heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ... 


- Epistle: II Cor. 3: 4-11 Gospel: Mark 7: 31-37 


A phrase of the Epistle, “ministers of the new 
testament,” whether regarded as an allusion to the 
high and holy Office of the Preaching of the Word, 
or to the more general and practical field of Chris- 
tian ministrations, is an indication of the reason 
for the choice of this Lection for this day. It is 
because of this Sunday’s nearness to St. Laurentius’ 
Day. The commemoration of this great Deacon of 
the early Roman Church was very popular ; his life 
and works worthy of remembrance; but we learn 
from the “Golden Legend” that his outstanding 
gifts and repute were connected with preaching. 

But the Epistle also continues the development of 
orderly instruction: every ministration of ‘the 
diversities of gifts” bestowed by the Spirit radiates 
from, and finds its climax in, the ministry of the 
Word. This, uniquely, is the ministry of the New 
Testament; but added to it is the practical exempli- 
fication thereof in loving, brotherly service. It is 

215 


216 THE CHURCH YEAR 


wholly of, and through, the Spirit, the Spirit Who 
giveth life. 

In some of the ancient Lectionaries this Sunday 
was called The First Sunday after Laurentius, be- 
ginning a new minor group of Sundays within the 
greater season of Trinity. This smaller cycle will 
extend to the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. 
In the progress of the greater season we have 
reached a group of Sundays whose teaching is pre- 
eminently practical in character and application. 
One may generalize and say that the New Life of 
Righteousness will show itself in the Works of 
Faith and Love; what it means to be a Christian. 


Now “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by 
the Word of God.” If we may illustrate this, with- 
out being thought fanciful, by pointing to the 
Gospel we will find the key for the beginning of the 
cycle. The Divine Word, Ephphatha, opens the 
deaf man’s ears and loosens the bound tongue so 
that he speaks plain, his praise, his thanksgiving. 
He and they publish His fame and what He has 
done for his soul! That is surely so. The first 
phase of the life of service of God and our fellow- 
men is that of a divinely inspired ministry ‘the 
ministry of the New Testament”... “able (rather, 
enabled) ministers of the New Testament.” The 
Epistle points out that this is not self-accomplished, 
nor “sufficient of ourselves to do anything as of 
ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, Who also 
hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, 
not of the letter but of the Spirit...” Not personal 
but wholly of grace. This process can well be found 
in the Gospel, for the miracle is not only one of 
healing but predicates spiritual recovery—the en- 
abling, to hear and speak aright. The friends and 
people published it and praised God. 


How apt the Collect, wherein we address God... 


THE TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 217 


“Almighty’—Whose power naught can withstand, 
all must obey ... “Ephphatha!”’... “Merciful”’— 
Who so compassionately received and helped that 
pitifully afflicted one... “of Whose only SER MRO ace: ee 
“enabled”... “it cometh that Thy people”... hear 
the Epistle, “such trust have we through Christ to 
Godward”... “do unto Thee true and laudable serv- 
ice”... “ministers.” And how apt the Gradual, “I 
will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall 
continually be in my mouth”... “He hath done all 
things well.” ‘My soul shall make her boast in the 
Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.” 
(And we have just heard and learned of “boasting” 
and “humility” only last Sunday too!) 

But the enabling power of the Spirit, ‘faithfully 
serve Thee in this life,’ is to work the ministry 
of the New Testament, the Covenant of Grace, the 
“ministration of righteousness.” The Old “written 
and engraven in stones,” showed man’s needs and 
pointed to Christ; but the New supplies his needs 
through and in Him. As one thinks of this glorious 
ministry of the Word, whereby this love and grace 
is declared, follow one further indication of service 
which the Lections indicate. Not only are we to 
call men to live in a new attitude toward God, but 
by personal, active effort, bring them, “true and 
laudable service.” A minister is naturally one who 
serves—activity ... “They bring unto Him one 
that was deaf... and they beseech Him to lay His 
hand upon him’’—Speak! Teach! Bring—linter- 
cede!—such is “true and laudable service.” May 
we then paraphrase the Introit, “Make haste, O 
God, to deliver”... him—and—‘“me.” “Make haste 
to help”... him—and—‘me, O Lord.” 


218 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 70:1, 2a 
Psalm, Psalm 70: 2b 
Collect: Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere 
venit, ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur, 
tribue, ut ad promissiones tuas sine offensione curramus, 
per. 


Gradual: Psalm 34:1; Psalm 34: 2; Psalm 81:1 


THE THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Have respect, O Lord, unto Thy convenant: O let 
not the oppressed return ashamed. 

Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause: and forget not the 
voice of Thine enemies. 

Psalm: O God, why hast Thou cast us off forever: why 
doth Thine anger smoke against the sheep of Thy pasture? 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, give unto us the 
increase of faith, hope, and charity; and that we may obtain 
that which Thou dost promise, make us to love that which 
Thou dost command; through... 


Epistle: Galatians 3: 15-22 Gospel: Luke 10: 23-37 


The voice of the Church in the Introit, ‘““Have 
respect, O Lord, unto Thy covenant,” directs to the 
teaching of the Day. “The ministry of the New 
Covenant” enabled by the living and life-giving 
Spirit, is to serve to a definite end: the declaration 
of the Gospel, the calling of men into the New 
Covenant, that of grace. Hear!—and, hearing, 
yield, and praise, and serve! But the covenant 
means agreement between two parties, between 
God and His people. As one reads the Epistle, one 
is struck with the vast difference between the Old 
and the New: their establishment, their purpose, 
and their sacredness. Not only is there teaching 
here, but warning; for the Galatian Church, called 
into the New, was forsaking Gospel liberty for the 
ancient legalizing bondage—(and that is worthy of 
emphasis today in the light of some “religious” ten- 
dencies). So the Apostle summarizes briefly the 
development of this Old Covenant: “To Abraham 
and his seed,” “by promise,” direct! “The law,” 

219 


220 THE CHURCH YEAR 


added so many years after, was “because of trans- 
gression,” and through a mediator, Moses, in order 
to make clear the nature and danger of transgres- 
sion,—“‘till the seed should come to whom the 
promise was made.” This does not “make the 
promise of none effect”—but it does not cure; it 
only condemns. It does not give Life! That only 
cometh of God’s free gift, grace. The Old Coven- 
ant “concluded all under sin,” and “sin bringeth 
death”; the New,. “that the promise by faith of 
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” 
Blessed indeed are the eyes which see these things! 

Immediately, then, and so richly instructive in 
its harmony, comes the Gospel, really showing the 
aspects of life under the two Covenants. The 
Lawyer, with his questions about the Law: were 
they honest, from the heart, or purely for the sake 
of argument? “To make trial of Him.” Lifeless 
law, as far as the lawyer was concerned. The 
Thieves, to whom God’s Law was as empty as their 
lives, were against all right and law,—outlaws! 
The Priest and Levite, “doers of the Law” in the 
strictest sense; knowing it, every jot and title that 
concerned themselves and their offices, and yet fail- 
ing in the essential! The Samaritan, outside of the 
Covenant !—and yet serving God truly in that seltf- 
sacrificing ministry of brotherly love; “Love is the 
fulfilling of the Law.” The Samaritan, one must 
remember, is a Parable character, so placed by our 
Lord, for a definite purpose: his service, its motive, 
its object: in comparison with the lack in others 
where it could be expected. 

The Christian in the Covenant of Grace:—after 
hearing, do,—not the works of the Law, but the 
works of the Gospel. “To love God, with all one’s 
being and to love the neighbor as one’s self.” True, 
living faith shows itself in love and deeds of love. 


THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 221 


This is the high point of the Christian life,—“the 
greatest of these is love’—; out of this comes the 
life of mercy, of true self-sacrificing service. Note 
how thoroughly this is embraced in the Collect. 

The Collect reveals at first glance, its source of 
inspiration in both Hpistle and Gospel. Surely such 
evidence as this (and in many other Sunday 
Propers) indicates very thoughtful, devout purpose 
in choosing and arranging these group “appoint- 
ments” for the worship and the instruction of God’s 
household. That they are deliberately chosen; that 
they are purposely intended to instruct; and that 
the sequence in the instruction is orderly and har- 
moniously progressive, is patent to him who uses 
his Service Book in a meditative spirit. 

One could hardly find the equal, never the super- 
ior, of this little prayer for just these two Lections. 
Of course it asks for us, the ws who are the pray-ers 
of the now, the us who believe and hold fast to the 
ever-gracious promises, the ws whose thoughts are 
startled into careful self-examination as that Gospel 
is read, the ws who read all too many personal privi- 
leges into that holy Law: an emphasis much needed, 
“sive unto us” the great triumvirate of life’s need 
and service, the increase,—for the Christian is to 
grow in grace and in the knowledge of his Lord. It 
tells us too that the promises so graciously made, so 
cherished, so decidedly claimed,—are we not God’s 
children?—like Israel?—to be ours must come 
through an obedience that is born of an inspiration, 
not personal, not literal, not selfish, but of love for 
that which He commands, because we love Him and 
His! 


222 THE CHURCH YEAR 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 74: 20a, 21a, 22b, 23a 
Psalm, Psalm 74:1 

Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus da nobis Fidei, Spei, 
and Caritatis augmentum; et ut mereamur assequi, quod 
promittis, fac, nos amare, quod praecipis, per. 

Leonine Sacramentary. 

Gradual: Psalm 74: 20a, 21a; Psalm 74: 22a, 28a; Psalm 
88: 1, compare 84: 8, 11. 


THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Behold, O God, our Shield: and look upon the face 
of Thine Anointed; 

For a day in Thy courts: is better than a thousand. 

Psalm: How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of 
Hosts: My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts 
of the Lord. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Keep, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with 
Thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man can- 
not but fall, keep us ever by Thy help from all things hurt- 
ful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; 
through 


Epistle: Galatians 5: 16-24 Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19 


The first phrase of the Epistle is an exhortation 
to “walk in the Spirit”; and this is to be recognized 
as the next “mark” in the Church’s teaching on 
what it means to be a Christian, the life in the 
Kingdom of Grace. However, a great deal more is 
immediately apparent. The “‘walk’ will show itself 
unmistakably: it has its difficulties, its serious, 
dangerous enemies. Something else must first be 
overcome, constantly defeated in fact, until the 
‘“‘walk”’ becomes the true and all-pervading habit of 
life. So the Apostle tells of that “warfare going 
on in one’s members,” that of “the flesh lusting 
against the Spirit.” The battle is real; and the 
way he writes of it, one feels as if these two forces 
were waging this warfare for the possession of 
me,—with me standing, watching! All true 
but the last; I am not only object desired, but 
battleground! It is my flesh against the workings 
of the Spirit! Oh, how one needs to pray the Col- 

220 


224 THE CHURCH YEAR 


lect, ‘“Keep’”—‘“‘Keep’”—the repetition of the “keep” 
is pointed—‘“and lead.” But he who has come into 
the Kingdom of Grace, hear what the Apostle says 
of such: ‘They that are Christ’s have crucified the 
flesh with the affections and lusts”! The “decision,” 
the victory !—has been as truly a crucifixion! Note 
the term,—a nailing to the Cross! Whose Cross,— 
if one yields one’s self to Christ? Does it bring 
one nearer to His being crucified for my sin? One 
cannot fail to appreciate the original meaning of the 
Latin word translated ‘‘mercy” in the Collect: it is 
propitiation,—our Lord’s propitiation made for us. 
Then follows yielding,—and then fruitage! 

Now note the contrast in terms: The “works,” 
deeds, those things born of the individual will, ‘‘of 
the flesh,’”—oh, what an array of all that is unholy 
and against God!—but “the fruits of the Spirit,” 
fruits, productivity: that means life, producing 
even though slowly and secretly: bud, flower, fruit, 
seed !—of the Spirit Who giveth Life; wholly ac- 
complished by His being in us,—inspired! Behold 
the glories of such fruitage: “love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance”: that is the product of the Christian 
allegiance: these are the “marks” of his loyalty, of 
his life. One dare not fail to hear the note of 
solemn warning against the “works of the flesh’— 
“shall not inherit the Kingdom of God”! 

The Gospel of the Healing of the Ten Lepers is 
to be considered as bringing more than a record of 
a Miracle. It illustrates the development of fruit 
bearing, and determines the great source out of 
which much more comes. Quickly following the 
merciful Samaritan, comes the thankful Samari- 
tan!—both yielding to God that good return which 
a heart in tune with Him will produce. Lepers: 
the type of sin; cleansed by and at, the Divine com- 


FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 225 


mand! But, oh, how bare are the many hearts that 
know that Voice, that have reaped the Blessing, but 
have gone their way,—victory of the “‘flesh’”—‘“the 
frailty of man without Thee cannot but fall.””’ Why 
without Him, but through deliberate choice? But 
one, who, when he saw that he was healed, turned 
back,—may one be permitted to throw in a word 
here, conversion!—think of it, then—glorified God, 
fell down on his face at His feet (adoration, wor- 
ship), giving Him thanks! Thanksgiving for what 
He had done for him—‘“‘wonders of grace.”’ Here a 
“source” placed side by side with “love,” out of 
which will develop that which is the real life of the 
Christian: communion with Him Who has enriched 
the life with such mercies and love. ‘‘How amiable 
are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts”... “‘my soul 
longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the 
Lord (Introit)—is not that the song of the com- 
muning soul? To be exiled from here!—not by the 
leprosy of the flesh, but the leprosy of the works 
of the flesh, sin; but welcomed here, when we 
“walk in the Spirit.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 84:9, 10 
Psalm, Psalm 84:1, 2a 


Collect: Custodi, Domine, quaesumus, Ecclesiam tuam 
propitiatione perpetua: et quia sine te labitur humana mor- 
talitas; tuis semper auxiliis et abstrahatur a noxiis: ut ad 
saputaria dirigatur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 118: 8; Psalm 118: 9; Psalm 90:1 


THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me: O Thou, 
my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee. 

Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily. 

Psalm: Rejoice the soul of Thy servant: for unto Thee, 
O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee, let Thy continual pity 
cleanse and defend Thy Church; and because it cannot con- 
tinue in safety without Thy succor, preserve it evermore by 
Thy help and goodness; through... 


Epistle: Galatians 5: 25—6:10 Gospel: Matthew 6: 24-34 


In the normal Church Year this Sunday would 
fall about the time of the general harvest in south- 
ern Europe, where much of the system of Lections 
originated. For this reason it has sometimes been 
thought that today’s Epistle and Gospel were in- 
tended to fit into the idea of Harvest, reference 
being made to the thought of sowing and reaping 
in the Hpistle and to the general teaching of God’s 
Providence in the Gospel. This, of course, would 
be perfectly in point and permissible were it not 
for the fact that there is an orderly progression of 
teaching of a different character, and that the 
Church makes other provision for the Festival com- 
memoration of the Ingathering of the Fruits of the 
Earth. The teaching brought out today is this: 

The Christian’s life is to be marked by “single- 
ness of heart.”” He is in the world, but not of it. 
We have already learned of the wellspring of love 
and thankfulness; today’s teaching adds thereto, 
singleness of service and meekness of heart. A 

226 


FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 227 


double service, so frequently attempted by so many, 
is an impossibility, —‘“ye cannot serve God and 
Mammon” (Gospel); but strange, we are taught 
that there is a double service possible, expected, 
serving God and the brother’s burdens!—but is 
that not one? Then, too, note the progression from 
“the Neighbor” of a few weeks since, to “the 
Brother” of today. We have also heard much of 
Law: much that was hard and forbidding; but to- 
day we learn there is a Christian Law, but it is not 
irksome—“My yoke is easy—My burden is light.” 
It is the Law of Christ—‘‘that ye love one another.” 


However, many things hinder its fulfillment— 
“desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, 
envying one another” (Epistle). Of such things, 
the Christian prays to be cleansed; from such, and 
divided allegiance, to be defended (Collect). But 
the “spirit of meekness” fosters its fulfillment— 
“considering thy self, lest thou also be tempted”! 
Begin with yourself—‘“Golden Rule’? This will 
be productive of, and will strengthen, the bond of 
sympathy with the brethren and their needs. Note 
right here the marked progression from the serv- 
ing love of the needy, to the definitely specific rela- 
tion with the brother, ‘‘one another’’—, of the Body 
of Christ. Meekness, forgives; envy, pride, won’t! 
Meekness, simplicity, serve—“‘do good unto all 
men”; will not “be weary in well-doing’”’; “fulfill 
the law of Christ’”—hbut especially to the “household 
of faith.” 

This is living in the Spirit. How all-animating 
is this Divine Spirit of Love and Service! How, 
almost constantly through these Sundays, we learn 
of Him. Forget not that the Church is living in 
“the Age of the Spirit.” This life and walk in the 
Spirit is the simple-life indeed—“clothed with 
humility,—simple, teachable and mild,’”—care-less, 


228 THE CHURCH YEAR 


contented, unfretful. How thoroughly this little 
excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, today’s 
Gospel, harmonizes. Here is the Gospel of Care- 
free-ness, of Contentedness; but contentment does 
not mean laxity or laziness; but active, energetic, 
devoted, single service! The many evidences of 
God’s loving care which I see all about me, which 
I possess and experience so constantly, teach me 
that He not only careth for me, but that He is bear- 
ing my burdens. Oh, the lightening of the heart, 
to know that He provideth, that He guardeth! This 
worry so graciously removed, conscious of His lov- 
ing provision, one’s heart can be wholly His; there 
can be then no cause, born of the world, to inter- 
fere, to prevent. The child of the world worries; 
because the world’s things are uppermost, can only 
be gained by striving; but the child of God trusts 
“for” His “heavenly Father knoweth that” he 
‘hath need of all these things’”’! 

“He that soweth to the flesh” (Hpistle) is such 
an one who constantly asks, “What shall I eat? 
What shall I drink? Wherewithal shall I be 
clothed?” But “he that soweth to the Spirit,” 
“seeketh first the Kingdom of God and His right- 
eousness,’—“letting the morrow take thought for 
the things of itself.”’ This is the secret of undivided 
service: for only such will seek first His Kingdom 
and righteousness as have learned the lesson of 
trusting Divine Love. 

Here the Collect finds place. And as “service’’ 
always brings with it a return of some sort, let us not 
forget the definite teaching of “rewards”—‘“Be not 
deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap”—if to the flesh— 
“corruption”; if to the Spirit—“life everlasting.” 
The Introit is the prayer of the Church, and still 
her voice today, breathing trust, pleading for His 


FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 229 


tender care. ‘Give us this day our daily bread”! 
This is inspiration for joy and peace. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 86:1, 2b, 3 

Psalm, Psalm 86: 4 

Collect: Ecclesiam tuam, Domine, miseration continuata 
mundet et muniat; et quia sine te non potest salva consistere, 
tuo semper munere gubernetur, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 92:1; Psalm 92:1, 2; Psalm 108: 1 


THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


4 ane Be merciful unto me, O Lord: fer I cry unto Thee 
aily. 
For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive: and 
plenteous in mercy unto all them that call unto Thee. 
Psalm: Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am 
poor and needy. 
The Gloria. 


Collect: Lord, we pray Thee, that Thy grace may always 
go before and follow after us, and make us continually to be 
given to all good works; through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 3: 13-21 Gospel: Luke 7: 11-17 


The cares of this life, its worries, the lack of com- 
plete trust in the love of the Father, we know will 
gradually grow into a deliberate ‘sowing to the 
flesh,” and make utter wreck of one’s allegiance 
to God. The cure for these, and the inspiration to 
rise over them into a complete trust and therefore 
an undivided service, is in the blessed assurance 
that the Father careth for me, if I but trustingly 
serve Him with all my heart and life. These are 
the “external”? enemies to that trust; but there are 
others which attack one’s faith and trust even more 
sharply and from an altogether different side. The 
Epistle gives us one indication, “tribulations”: ex- 
periences which bring suffering, which are wholly 
due to my allegiance to, my service of, God, because 
I am His child. The Gospel opens another field: 
that great company of the agonies of the human 
heart, caused by sorrow and separation and loss. 
Oh, the doubts which have been born of these 
things! Oh, the hours of rebellion! Oh the weak- 
ening, the lack of faith!—because of them. 

230 


SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 231 


The voice of the Introit is the cry of such a needy 
heart. “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry 
unto Thee daily’”—(if we only would, in every need, 
at every hour!)—‘“For Thou, Lord, art good, and 
ready to forgive’—(what comfort, considering all 
my weaknesses, my failings!)—‘“and plenteous in 
mercy unto all that call upon Thee’—(‘“Under- 
neath are the Everlasting Arms”!). And now the 
prayer, the confession—think of the tribulations, 
the sorrows of life: ““Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, 
hear me, for I am poor and needy.” The Widow 
of Nain. 

Knowing this crying need in the believer’s life, 
and how it attacks his spirituality, even in the 
“strong,” the Apostle pours out his heart in a 
wonderful, and, oh, so tender prayer in behalf of 
those whom he loves. Does this not carry one back 
to his words of last Sunday’s Epistle, about bear- 
ing one another’s burdens? How his prayer teaches 
also; not only of his personal sympathy, but of 
the highest and greatest of all, that Divine Father, 
Whose children we all are, Whose Name we all 
bear. Here are those things one needs to over- 
come: the doubts, the weaknesses of the sorely 
tried and tempted heart—“‘to be strengthened with 
might by His Spirit in the inner man’”—heart, 
strong to resist and bear ;—‘‘that Christ may dwell 
in your heart by faith’—the life in Christ, the 
hidden life—“suffer with Him, that we may be 
glorified together’ ;—‘rooted and grounded in 
faith’”—the man who built upon the rock: the heart 
impervious to every assault, whatever it be,—“he 
knows whom he has believed”!—he trusts,—he 
abides! ‘To know the love of Christ’’—‘The love 
of Jesus, what it is; none but His loved ones 
know !”—“filled with all the fullness of God”: here 
is life in, with, God: that tender, all-bringing, all- 


232 THE CHURCH YEAR 


giving communion-companionship: “the life hid 
with Christ in God’; He, possessing me, all I am; 
and, oh, so humbly let it be said, I, possessing Him, 
all He is! 

How other than with an heart which looks up, 
which knows He is good, knows His tender com- 
passion, His abiding peace and comfort, His warm- 
ing love, knows He hears one’s every sigh and feels 
one’s every sorrow, can.one enter such an experi- 
ence of life as that. brought in this blessed Gospel? 
The Divine Word, ‘‘Ephphatha!”’ opened the ears 
to hear, loosed the tongue to speak; but the Divine 
Heart saw the Sorrowing Mother of Nain, had com- 
passion on her, said unto HER, “Weep not”—and 
the Divine Voice, “Young Man, ‘Arise’ ’’—and the 
Divine Hand “delivered him to his mother’’! 

Take the peace of this Day’s glorious teaching 
for the trials and sorrows of life: the things which 
unsteady the Christian’s heart so easily; and learn 
what it means to be a Christian when such things 
come! “Patient in tribulation—steadfast in 
prayer.” He knows; He feels; He comforts; He 
helps!—“that ye may be able to comprehend—the 
breadth, and length, and depth, and height—and 
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge 
—that ye may be filled with all the fullness of God’’! 
Then His grace will always go before and follow 
after us. 

SOURCES 

Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 86: 8, 5 

Psalm, Psalm 86: 1 


Collect: Tua nos Domine quaesumus gratia semper et 
preveniat et sequatur, ac bonis operibus iugiter prestet esse 
intentos, per. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 102: 15; Psalm 102: 16; Psalm 98:1 


THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Righteous art Thou, O Lord: and upright are Thy 
judgments. 

Deal with Thy servant: according to Thy mercy. 

Psalm: Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk in 
the law of the Lord. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee, grant Thy people grace, 
to withstand the temptations of the devil, and with pure 
hearts and minds to follow Thee, the only God; through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 4: 1-6 Gospel: Luke 14: 1-11 


Today’s Introit tells of the righteousness of the 
Lord and the uprightness of His judgments. Con- 
trast this with the scene in the Gospel where the 
unrighteousness of men, and the selfishness and 
pridefulness of their judgments are seen in the 
Pharisees. Its second phrase is a prayer to deal 
with “Thy servant, according to Thy mercy’”’—not 
according to his deserts!—and the mercy of these 
men in the Gospel toward their fellow... ? Then 
it turns to “the undefiled in the way, who walk in 
the law of the Lord,” calling such “blessed”—The 
Pharisees prided themselves on their walking in 
the Law!—Were such to be called “blessed”? 
Added to this is the Epistle’s exhortation to “walk 
worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called”; 
and, again remembering the Gospel, we learn how 
this is done worthily, “with all lowliness and meek- 
ness and longsuffering.” “Blessed are the unde- 
filed in the way.” 

As we near the close of this minor cycle, in which 
the marks of the Christian character have been 

233 


234 THE CHURCH YEAR 


the subjects of the Sundays’ teachings, we again 
meet one that has but lately been emphasized, 
though in somewhat different relation, one that has 
been brought to us a number of times before in the 
round of the Church Year. It is the combined grace 
of “lowliness and meekness,” humility. Compare 
the Sexagesima Epistle, the Palm Sunday Epistle, 
the Gospel of the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. 
It is a frequently found subject in the Collects. In 
the last meeting with it, not so many Sundays since, 
we were taught in the Prayer of the Publican that 
with humility alone one can come before God. To- 
day brings the relationship into our dealings with 
our fellow-men, but especially with those who are 
of the Household of Faith, the Body of Christ, the 
Church. Here the Epistle is most emphatic in its 
application. They who would follow Him Who has 
called them, Who has said, ‘I am meek and lowly 
of heart,” must follow His example: a “worthi- 
ness” born of double service to God, and one to the 
other, the brother. The necessity of this lowliness 
and meekness as part of the believer’s life is de- 
manded not only by his “calling,” to prove itself in 
longsuffering, mutual loving for-bearing, but also 
by the unity of the body of which he is a member. 
The individual is not emphasized here; he and his 
aims must be merged entirely with his fellow be- 
lievers, sacrificing, dedicating, self for the common 
good, the common love and peace. Note the seven 
bases of, and for, this unity given by the Apostle: 
One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, 
one baptism, one God and Father of all. 

To this the Gospel adds its lesson against pride; 
of the lack of fellow feeling, sympathy, longsuffer- 
ing; of cavilling envy, jealousy and enmity, in the 
attitude of the Pharisees to Jesus and the dropsical 
man. Then there is the “Parable of Humility,” 


SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTERTRINITY 235 


taught these proud, conceited, contemptuous, place- 
seekers; and can one not also find there the “Law 
of Humility’? Did we not hear Him speak these 
words immediately after His commendation of the 
humble Publican, “Whosoever exalteth himself shall 
be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted”? The Pharisee’s contact with, relation- 
ship to, others, purely individualistic; the Chris- 
tian’s whole endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace. Here one must not forget the 
Collect with its plea for “grace to withstand the 
temptations of the devil, and with pure hearts and 
minds to follow Him, the only God’! Undefiled in 
the way! ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the 
Lord?” “He that hath clean hands and a pure 
heart”! “Who walk in the Law of the Lord.” 


SOURCES 
Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 119: 1387, 124a 
Psalm, Psalm 119: 1 


Collect: Da, quaesumus Domine, populo tuo diabolica 
vitare contagia et te slum Dominum puro corde sectari, per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 33:12; Psalm 33:6; Psalm 116:1 


THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Reward them that wait for Thee, O Lord: and let 
Thy prophets be found faithful. 
: Bod the prayer of Thy servants: and of Thy people 
srael. 
Psalm: I was glad when they said unto me: Let us go into 
the house of the Lord. 
The Gloria. 


Collect: O God forasmuch as without Thee we are not 
able to please Thee: Mercifully grant, that Thy Holy Spirit 
may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through... 


Epistle: I Corinthians 1: 4-9 Gospel: Matthew 22: 34-46 


With this Sunday we reach the end of the third 
minor Cycle of the Trinity Season. Its round of 
teaching has dealt with a description of what 1 
means to be a Christian, brought to us in a very 
practical way. 'Today’s teaching adds the comple- 
tion of this and at the same time points forward to 
other glories in store. 

As one reads through the Day’s appointments, 
there seems to be a growing emphasis on the rela- 
tion between the united body of Christians and their 
Lord. On the one side is the “‘one body,” “the whole 
family’: on the other the “one God,” “the Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “through Whom, in 
Whom, by Whom, ye are called.” The endeavor of 
this family, the believers, is “to grow in grace, in 
knowledge of their Lord’; to believe and live and 
serve, to love and trust; and also to look forward 
with fervent hope to something yet to come, to be 
revealed, to be accomplished for them, in them! 
One hears the Introit speaking of ‘‘them that wait 
for Thee,” of “Thy prophets being found faithful,” 

236 


EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 237 


of “Thy servants,” of “Thy people,” the new 
“Israel”; and singing of the Home of the Soul, 
that place of communion and loving worship, “I 
was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into 
the House of the Lord’.” Here is the song, the voice 
of the Family of the Father on this earth; but is 
there not there also the longing to be “found faith- 
ful” for the glories to be revealed? Where is “the 
Father’s House’ ?—and note the word, glad! 


The Evistle briefly, but none the less thoroughly, 
covers the story of the Family’s founding; its nur- 
turing; its maintenance; its purpose; its hope and 
goal. Thanksgiving indeed “for the grace given” 
us “by, in, Christ Jesus’—“by grace are ye saved” 
—“enriched by Him in all utterance and knowledge, 
even as the testimony (the Gospel) of Christ was 
confirmed in you’; lacking nothing: recall the 
“Gift of the Spirit” as well as the Gospels for the © 
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Sundays after Trinity. But 
this all for the end: God’s Family, here and there, 
“waiting for the coming of, blameless in the day of, 
our Lord Jesus Christ.” But the believing child 
must live so that he will be ready when his Lord 
comes. Recall the story of the “Talents” and that 
of the “Heedless and watchful servants.” Oh, that 
glorious coming home! “I was glad when they said 
unto me, ‘Let us go into the House of the Lord’.’”’— 
and again the first verse, “Reward them that wait 
for Thee, O Lord; and let Thy prophets be found 
faithful”! 

But one needs to wait with patience, if one is to 
be found faithful. So one turns to the quiet, 
humble plea of this very ancient little Collect: “O 
God, forasmuch as without Thee we are not able 
to please Thee”—(and what tender assurance the 
Epistle has here, “the grace of God given you by 
Jesus Christ,” “enriched by Him,” “God is faithful 


238 THE CHURCH YEAR 


by Whom ye were called into the fellowship of His 
Son Jesus Christ, our Lord”’)—‘‘mercifully grant 
that Thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and 
rule our hearts’—‘“direct and rule’—guide and 
govern, tell us how, and inspire us to do!—“in 
every thing enriched by Him.” 

Is the Gospel the answer here? The Great Com- 
mandment appears again today not as inspiration 
for practical application in the form of the teaching 
of a specific ‘‘mark’” of the believer, but as our 
Lord’s answer of what the greatest commandment 
is—“Direct!”” His question to which “no man was 
able to answer Him a word,” points to its comple- 
ment: “What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is 
He?”—the “rule” of faith. There is no life of faith 
in the Son of God without this life of love: and just 
as truly there can be no life of love, no fulfilling of 
the commandments,—for “‘love is the fulfilling of the 
commandments”’—without this life of faith. This 
is the completing “mark” of the Christian’s char- 
acter, the prerequisite to the “fellowship,” the com- 
plete accord of faith and love,—not as ‘‘question- 
ing” or “tempting” faith, but the simple answer of 
the surrendered heart, ‘““My Lord and my God.” 
Such an one waits in faith, and is blameless ;—think 
again of what love really is, 1 Cor. 18; and fellow- 
ship, 1 John 4: 7-9. 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Eccles. 36: 16, 17a 
Psalm, Psalm 122: 1 
Collect: Dirigat corda nostra, Domine, quaesumus, tua 
miserationis operatio, quia tibi sine te placare non possumus, 
per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 
Gradual: Psalm 122:1; Psalm 122: 2; Psalm 117: 1 


THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation: the right- 
eous cry, and the Lord heareth. 

He delivereth them out of all their troubles: He is their 
God forever and ever. 

Psalm: Give ear, O My people, to My law: incline your 
ears to the words of My mouth. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O Almighty and most Merciful God, of Thy 
bountiful goodness keep us, we beseech Thee, from all things 
that may hurt us; that we, being ready, both in body and 
soul, may cheerfully accomplish those things that Thou 
wouldest have done; through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 4: 22-28 Gospel: Matthew 9: 1-8 


The final Cycle of the Trinity Season begins with 
this Day. Its general subject deals with the Com- 
pletion of the Kingdom of Righteousness. System- 
atically, logically, progressively, from its Declara- 
tion, we have seen its Description, learned the Life 
demanded to be a citizen thereof, and now approach 
its Completion, Fulfillment, at the same time learn- 
ing of its Rewards. We enter the Cycle of the Last 
Things as we come to the close of the Church Year; 
not only closing a complete round of instruction, 
but rather dramatically finding therein a parable 
of the closing of the believer’s life, with the open- 
ing of glories of the Heavenly Home: to the believer, 
joy and peace; but to him who has entered “with- 
out the wedding garment,” the awful dread, the 
awful loss. Therefore the tone of this Cycle not 
only rings clear with promise, but chords deep with 
solemn, awful warning. 

How glorious the Introit’s announcement, the 
first ‘note’ of this Cycle: “Say unto my soul, I am 

239 


240 THE CHURCH YEAR 


thy salvation!’—and instantly enter that precious 
Presence with the loving, serving brethren who 
carry their offering of piteous need (Gospel), and 
find, with them, that we are in the Presence of 
Jesus, the Saviour of men! As we follow that 
Divine healing which first comforts and heals the 
soul, and then mends the palsied body, one is per- 
mitted to see not only His salvation so lovingly min- 
istered to one needy one; but in that actual experi- 
ence, the type of every soul that is healed and res- 
cued for eternity’s Treasure House. 

This, too, the Epistle brings in the figures of the 
“old” and “new” man: the old man of the flesh and 
the lusts thereof, palsied in sin, to be awakened to 
newness of life; “the new man, which after God is 
created in righteousness and true holiness” by the 
voice of the Saviour. These lessons are teaching us 
of things preparatory to the end, and of life in the 
light of them, which is living toward the end 
(Epistle). The Gospel—of the forgiveness of sins 
— “And Who can forgive sins?’’—of the deliverance 
from all evil, before the coming of the Kingdom! 
(And notice, too, right here, where the Article of 
Faith, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,’ is 
placed in the Creed: between one’s belief in the 
family which one has been learning about these 
past Sundays, “the Christian Church,” and the Last 
Things, the great momentous things of life, death, 
and eternity!) The Epistle shows too, the effect 
this forgiveness is to have in one’s soul and life; 
therefore that little group of exhortations to right 
living, all to aid in “redeeming the time,” and look- 
ing for the Lord’s return. 

Though expectant, one still must live his days; 
and there will be constant need for watchfulness 
against the assaults of the enemy and carelessness 
in one’s self. 


NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 241 


The Introit is an exhortation as well as a song 
of comfort. To Him Who so graciously helped the 
palsied man, to Him Who cleansed his soul as well 
as healed his body, cry to Him! Of His bountiful 
goodness He will keep us from all things that may 
hurt us, both in body and soul—(the ministry in 
the Gospel!). We need to be renewed (Epistle), 
oh, constantly, in heart and life—‘‘He delivereth 
them out of all their trouble. He is their God for- 
ever and ever” (Introit)—Jesus, the Saviour! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 85: 3b; 34:17; 48: 14a 
Psalm, Psalm 78:1 
Collect: Omnipotens et misericors Deus, universa nobis 
adversantia propitiatus exclude; ut mente et corpore pariter 
expediti, quae sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur, per. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 141: 2; Psalm 118: 16 


THE TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: The Lord our God is righteous in all His works 
which He doeth: for we obeyed not His voice. 

Give glory to Thy Name, O Lord: and deal with us ac- 
cording to the multitude of Thy mercies. 

Psalm: Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: in 
the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Grant, we beseech Thee, Merciful Lord, to Thy 
faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed 
from all their sins, and serve Thee with a quiet mind; 
through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 5: 15-21 Gospel: Matthew 22: 1-14. 


“See then, that ye walk circumspectly, not as 
fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the 
days are evil” (Epistle). Here is the solemn mes- 
sage of the Day to the child of God in the world, but 
passing through: a solemn warning to watchful- 
ness, and unceasing carefulness, of himself, ‘his 
disposition of heart, his actions, his relations with 
others; an exhortation to wisdom, which again re- 
minds us of the kind of wisdom the child of God is 
to learn, as one remembers how the unjust stew- 
ard’s clever worldly wisdom taught one the keen- 
ness and wakefulness of the wisdom of the child of 
light to spiritual, heavenly opportunity,—an exhor- 
tation to “redeeming the time,” “buying up the 
opportunity,” seizing every opportunity for Christ! 
—knowing that every failure to do so turns to the 
advantage of His foes. 

There are three ways of accomplishing this: 
Apprehension of the will of the Lord through spir- 
itual-mindedness, thoughtfulness and prayer; culti- 

242 


TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 243 


vation of the right manner of living, the true joy 
of life; and the thankful heart toward God, the 
gentle heart toward one another. 


The entire Epistle is most solemn in tone, though 
it speaks of the delightsome things of the true 
heart’s worship. It is as though we were counting 
every moment as it passes; every opportunity as 
it presents itself, from the viewpoint of Eternity! 
—and at that, the speedy Coming of our Lord. 
Therefore, every moment of the Christian’s life 
is to be lived with that in view; his every action 
determined by that wisdom which understands and 
loves “the will of the Lord.” Solemn though it all 
is, there is a holy joy in looking toward the end, 
and which finds its completion in a life spent in 
common worship, in mutual exhortation, encour- 
agement and uplift, and in joyful communion with 
the Lord. 

The Epistle also names those who do not have 
this steadfast forward look, “fools,” the “‘unwise,” 
reckless spenders of time and squanderers of oppor- 
tunity. How the Gospel meets this and adds its 
part to the message. The Parable of the Marriage 
Feast is not like the Parable of the Great Supper, 
which we met on the Second Sunday after Trinity, 
one of grace, but one of judgment. Here are the 
“fools,” the “unwise,” the squanderers,—the Par- 
able really makes them rebels against their Lord! 
The invitation goes forth—is it not rather an- 
nouncement?—‘“‘Tell them that are hidden, all 
things are now ready; come to the supper!”” They 
made light of it; they went their ways. They took 
His servants and entreated them spitefully and slew 
them. Hear the Introit, ‘The Lord, our God, is 
righteous in all His works which He doeth; for we 
obeyed not His voice.”” The judgment of the right- 
eous King: that is pictured here in all its terrible, 


244 THE CHURCH YEAR 


sundering finality. But other guests were found, 
“both bad and good.” Note the eloquent touch in 
this little phrase, of the great, purifying, saving, 
power of coming under the influence of the King- 
dom! For all “bad” did not remain bad: some 
entered into the spirit and joy of their surround- 
ings, of the feast; gave themselves to it whole- 
heartedly, appreciated and partook. But one, an- 
other self-centered individualist, who came and re- 
mained just what -he himself wanted to be,— an- 
other rebel, and another kind of refusal, “he had 
not on a wedding garment.” He, too, is cast forth 
—Judgment! 

So the message is that of watchfulness: to buy 
up every opportunity of grace, of service, of life 
in communion with God and His children; for the 
eareless, the reckless, the selfish, the spurner, the 
negligent, lives only to lose. The King comes in 
to see all His guests, and the coming of the King 
to see is judgment! “Give glory to Thy Name, O 
Lord, and deal with us according to the multitude of 
Thy mercies” (Introit). And the Collect, Grant, 
Merciful—(an unnamed attribute of the King in 
the Gospel) —Lord to Thy faithful people (rebels!) 
pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from 
their sins—(“Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness, 
my beauty are, my glorious dress’”)—“and serve 
Thee with a quiet mind,’’—the peace of God! 


TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 245 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Daniel 9: 14b; Psalm 119: 124 
Psalm, Psalm 48: 1 


Collect: Largire, quaesumus, Domine, fidelibus tuis indul- 
gentiam placatus et pacem; ut pariter ab omnibus mundentur 
offensis et secura tibi mente deserviant, per Dominum. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 145: 15; 145: 16; 105: 1 


THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER 
TRINITY 


Introit: The whole world is in Thy power, O Lord, King 
Almighty: there is no man that can gainsay Thee. 

For Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all the won- 
drous things under the heaven: Thou art Lord of all. 

Psalm: Blessed are the undefiled in the way: who walk 
in the law of the Lord. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee, to keep Thy household, 
the Church, in continual godliness; that through Thy pro- 
tection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly 
given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy 
Name; through... 


Epistle: Ephesians 6: 10-17 Gospel: John 4: 46-54 


We still have in our hearts last Sunday’s exhor- 
tation, “See that ye walk circumspectly, for the 
days are evil’: and today’s Epistle tells us of the 
constant danger in which the Christian is. The 
Apostle does not minimize the danger nor think 
slightingly of the Christian’s relentless enemy: for 
he speaks of his life as a warfare, “not against 
flesh and blood”—(remember how in last Sunday’s 
Epistle we were exhorted to watchfulness here?) 
—but against our spiritual enemies whose power, 
resources and malignity are so vast, that man alone 
is a veritable bit of chaff before them. And well 
may it be driven home!—‘“Sure J must fight if I 
would win’—but “with might of ours naught can 
be done.” “Stand!” cries the Epistle, if one would 
receive the promise, escape the judgment! But not 
alone,—“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power 
of His might”! 

Hear how the Jntroit sings her song of brave con- 
fidence, as the Church faces this battle with cour- 

246 


TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 247 


ageous heart: “The whole world is in Thy power, 
O Lord, King Almighty.” Epistle, “We wrestle 
against principalities’ —‘“King”—“against powers” 
— ‘Thy power’—“against the rulers of this world, 
—against the wiles of the devil’—“Almighty”! 
And not only does the Epistle show where the cour- 
age inspiring strength to stand and fight is; but 
adds thereto the needed armor and the weapons, 
the things the Christian needs: To be strong in the 
Lord; to put on the whole armor of God: girdle of 
Truth, breastplate of Righteousness, sandals of the 
Gospel of Peace, shield of Faith, helmet of Salva- 
tion, sword of the Spirit; all protective but one, and 
that one the aggressive all-conquering “sword” of 
the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Remember 
our Lord in His temptation in the wilderness: “It 
is written.” Yes,—‘It is written,” even now, for 
thee—for me! 


But one needs something before one can begin to 
stand,—before one can begin to believe,—much 
more, fight! What is it? How is it won? Here 
the Gospel enters with the story of the Healing of 
the Nobleman’s Son. The son received the physical 
benefit ; but the narrative is the biography of a faith 
which grows up, up, up, reaches, lays hold on, and 
stands firm, in the power of Christ, his Lord—‘Be 
strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might’! 

Drawn by love to seek for his boy, the father finds 
his own Saviour as well as his boy’s; driven by need, 
he finds the strength and help. It was not persever- 
ance, nor any other thing but faith absolute and 
sure, and therefore supreme, a living faith. This 
Gospel is the story of the good fight of faith: the 
only fight to make against the enemies which the 
Epistle shows; and it leads to the comfort of the 
Epistle, voiced so helpfully in the Collect: “Through 
Thy protection, Thy Household may be free from 


248 THE CHURCH YEAR 


all adversities and devoutly given to serve Thee.” 
Add the thought of another Gospel verse, “When 
the stronger shall come, he leaveth his goods in 
peace”’! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Esther 13: 9, 10, 11 
Psalm, Psalm 119: 1 


Collect: Familiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, continua 
pietate custodi; ut a cunctis adversitatibus te protegente sit 
libera, et in bonis actibus tui nominis sit devota, per Domi- 
num. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 90:1; Psalm 90: 2; Psalm 125: 1 


THE TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY 
AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities: O Lord, 
who shall stand? 

But there is forgiveness with Thee: that Thou mayest be 
feared, O God of Israel. 

Psalm: Out of the depths have I cried unto Thee, O Lord: 
Lord, hear my voice. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: O God, our Refuge and Strength, Who art the 
Author of all godliness: Be ready, we beseech Thee, to hear 
the devout prayers of Thy Church; and grant that those 
things which we ask faithfully, we may obtain effectually; 
through... 


Epistle: Philippians 1: 3-11 Gospel: Matthew 18: 23-35 


“The Day of Jesus Christ” (Epistle). As we 
approach the end of the Church Year our thoughts 
are constantly turned to the things of Eternity, the 
end of human life, “The end of all things’—‘“The 
Lord is at hand.” Constant, too, have been the 
exhortations to watch and be ready; not to fear, 
but to look up and rejoice; not to doubt but to trust. 
Constant is the comfort of Divine Grace and Love. 
Rising to this high plane of peace, but at the same 
time stirred to the depths of serious contemplation 
of life with all its weakness and sins and their 
fearful, dooming results, but knowing the God Who 
alone is “our Refuge and Strength, the Author of 
all godliness” (Collect), the Church’s voice in to- 
day’s Introit makes itself heard in humble confes- 
sion, trust and earnest prayer. “If Thou, Lord, 
shouldest mark iniquities,—who shall stand ?—but 
there is forgiveness with Thee.” 

How close to this the Gospel Parable of the Un- 
merciful Servant! Here the servant appears who 

249 


250 THE CHURCH YEAR 


owed his Lord so much that he could not even 
hope ever to pay the debt!—he had nothing with 
which to pay! To his necessity-, fear-driven plea. 
of “Have patience’ comes the instant, free, and 
full, pardon (remission!) of his compassionate 
Lord. “If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities 
—who shall stand?—but there is forgiveness with 
Thee’! O great Fountain of Compassion! Patient, 
all-forgiving Love! ‘Out of the depths have I 
cried’”’—‘“‘Loosed him—forgave him his debt’! So 
God has dealt with us, and is constantly showing 
His patience and mercy. To Him, the all-gracious, 
the all-forgiving, the Church, the believers, beset 
with weakness and sin, is ever looking, crying ‘‘out 
of the depths,’ knowing “there is forgiveness with 
Thee.” 

The Gospel holds the note of awful warning too, 
which is constantly sounded throughout all these 
final weeks. It is to sound into the very soul! The 
servant leaves the presence of his Lord only to face 
immediately an exact parallel experience: a fellow- 
servant who was indebted to him, oh, a negligible 
sum, so infinitesimal in comparison with what he 
had owed! But how it pictures the human heart 
in its relation with others and what they owe it, 
compared with what it owes God! No compassion, 
no patience, no forgiveness, here!—but the unyield- 
ing, unforgiving, condemnation of the untouched 
heart. Here was a “good work begun,” as the 
Epistle says, in the servant, but—not completed! 
Just where lay the responsibility for that? Here 
was a shrinking, an ingrowing of love! Follow the 
Epistle right through and behold in this man its 
direct opposite! Then think of the “fruits” he was 
bearing for “the Day of Christ” !—unrighteousness. 
Any wonder that on him falls the just judgment 
of his outraged Lord? “So likewise shall My 


TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 251 


heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your 
hearts forgive not every one his brother their tres- 
passes.” “Forgive us...as we forgive them... !” 


The Gradual helps in the approach to the center 
of the Day’s teaching. ‘‘Behold how good and how 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
unity.”? One cannot look forward in confident trust 
and peace,—and is not the Day filled with an under- 
current of longing for the “coming Home,” for the 
“eternal redemption” ?—without the Divine for- 
giveness according that benediction of peace to the 
soul. Nor can one “praise the Lord” with tongue, 
or thought, or life’s deeds, unless there is unity: 
that community of the Family of God in one’s heart. 
The Epistle calls this “fellowship in the Gospel,” 
and this life is to “increase more and more’; and 
the longer it is, the nearer it approaches the end, 
the more it is to be filled with abounding love, 
knowledge, and judgment, be sincere and without 
offence, be productive, “filled with the fruits of 
righteousness which are by Jesus Christ unto the 
glory and praise of God.” THIS “good work 
begun” will only be completed in the Day of Jesus 
Christ, and then only through the full surrender of 
one’s self to Him now, Who alone “will perform it.” 
As one reads this F’'pistle one realizes it is St. Paul’s 
thanksgiving and prayer for his dearly loved Philip- 
pians. Think of St. Paul’s attitude toward them, 
his “fellow-servants”; and then of the servant in 
the Gospel! 

What lessons there are in these contrasts today: 
to point us to the life which must be lived, which 
must abound, which must, by God’s grace and con- 
stant strengthening grow to its completion “in the 
Day of Jesus Christ.” For this we will ever pray: 


O God, our Refuge—and Strength—Who art 
the Author—of all godliness... your love may 


252 THE CHURCH YEAR 


abound more and more (LEpistle)—the unloving, 
the unforgiving servant (Gospel): Be ready—WE 
beseech Thee—(picture the suppliants in the 
Gospel) —to hear—ready to hear!—(As when the 
servant cried to his Lord?—as when the fellow- 
servant cried to his—“brother’?)—be ready to 
hear!—the devout prayers—the spirit of the 
prayer, the object of the prayer, the need of the 
prayer... ask faithfully ... obtain effectually! 
... through Jesus Christ our Lord! 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 130: 3, 4 
Psalm, Psalm 1380: 1, 2a 


Collect: Deus, refugium nostrum et virtus: adesto piis 
Ecclesiae tuae precibus, auctor ipse pietatis, et praesta ut 


quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur, per Dominum. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 133: 1; Psalm 188: 2; Psalm 146: 1b, 2a, b 


THE TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY 
AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: I know the thoughts that I think toward you, 
saith the Lord: thoughts of peace and not of evil. 

Then shall ye call upon Me, and pray unto Me, and I will 
hearken unto you: and I will turn your captivity, and gather 
you from all nations and from all places. 

Psalm: Lord, Thou hast been favorable unto Thy land: 
Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people 
from their offences; that from the bonds of our sins which, 
by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may 
be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through : 


Epistle: Philippians 3: 17-21 Gospel: Matthew 22: 15-22 


Recalling the humble confession, but humble reli- 
ance upon God’s compassionate mercy, voiced by 
the Church in last Sunday’s Introit, this Sunday’s 
comes as a benediction, filled with comfort, peace 
and promise: “I know the thoughts that I think 
toward you, saith the Lord: thoughts of peace and 
not of evil.” Here is encouragement for the “you,” 
His own children, “Thy people” (Col.), as they 
journey on to the End: steadfastly following the 
blessed examples, ever conscious of the Future soon 
to be unfolded. For the great Day of the Ingather- 
ing is coming, when the “captivity” of the world 
and evil will be turned, and “from all nations and 
from all places” He will “gather” His Family for 
the Homeland. 

This Sunday with one united voice is teaching 
citizenship, but only of one kind, the heavenly 
citizenship. The one great objective of the Chris- 
tian’s earthly life is to be welcomed to the Glorious 

253 


254 THE CHURCH YEAR 


Company of Heaven: to be found “meet to be par- 
takers of the inheritance of the saints in light’; 
but he has his life to live here: the life that is the 
preparation for that to come! The definite inspira- 
tion of the Epistle is constantly before him: “Our 
citizenship is in heaven,” with all which that means. 
Coupled with that, our Lord’s own words in the 
Gospel, in which His followers will ever find in- 
struction for their earthly walk and conversation, 
which they as heavenly citizens render as loyally 
in every duty that the earthly citizenship rightly 
imposes. To Cesar, his!—but to God, HIS! The 
Christian will always be the ideal world-citizen, if 
he but obey his Lord; and yet, he is an alien here! 


But this “walk” demands strict care, and an ever 
watchful and devoted spirit—‘‘at home in the body, 
absent from the Lord.” If this does not inspire 
the traveler on the straight and narrow way, the 
road will soon broaden, the companionship speedily 
draw away, and the allegiance weaken and then 
end. “Many walk of whom I have told you often” 
—(Does one fear that one may become one of this 
company ?) —‘‘that they are enemies of the cross of 
Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their 
belly, and whose glory is in their shame’—(In 
what does St. Paul say he will glory?) —“who mind 
earthly things” (“I count all things but refuse that 
I may gain Christ’’). ‘‘Whose end is destruction” 
—oh, the terror, the soul-stirring warning! But 
mark the contrast, “Ye shall call upon Me, and 
pray unto Me, and I will hearken unto you; and I 
will turn your captivity, and gather you!” Right 
here is where the Collect pours out our inmost de- 
sires: “Absolve’—loose us from!—“‘Thy people 
from their offences, that from the bonds of our 
‘sins’—the slavery of this world’s service, of self- 
pleasing “captivity’—“which by reason of our 


TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 250 


frailty we have brought upon us, we may be de- 
livered by Thy bountiful goodness’”—“By grace are 
ye saved!” And here add the end of the Epistle, 
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also 
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Jeremiah 29:11, 12, 14 
Psalm, Psalm 85:1 


Collect: Absolve, quaesumus, Domine, tuorum delicta popu- 
lorum; ut a peccatorum nostrorum nexibus quae pro nostra 
fragilitate contraximus, tua benignitate liberemur. Per 
Dominum. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 44:7; Psalm 44: 8; Psalm 115: 11 


THE TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY 
AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: O come, let us worship and bow down: let us 
kneel before the Lord, our Maker. 

For He is our God: and we are the people of His pasture, 
and the sheep of His hand. 

Psalm: O come, let-us sing unto the Lord: let us make a 
joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy 
faithful people; that they, bringing forth the fruit of good 
works, may of Thee be plenteously rewarded; through... 


Epistle: Colossians 1: 9-14 Gospel: Matthew 9: 18-26 


Today the Church reaches the place of complete 
confidence: not in herself, but in her Head. She 
fears no ill; she knows that nothing shall be able to 
separate her from the love of God! She sings, “He 
is our God: and we are the people of His pasture 
and the sheep of His hand.” Trust, indeed; and 
this pours itself out in adoring praise: “O come, 
let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before 
the Lord our Maker. O come, let us sing unto the 
Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our 
salvation” (Int.). 

One wonders how she can give herself so com- 
pletely to this feeling of surety and confidence: how 
she seems to ignore all the deep and serious lessons 
of these Last Days. But it is not that she ignores 
them; but has risen above the fear in them and the 
loss held out to those who willfully fail. She has 
heard the admonitions and exhortations, and not 
forgotten; but learned! And with this “growth in 
knowledge” has come this trust. “Put off the old 
man” (19th after Trinity). ‘Walk circumspectly” 

256 


TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 257 


—‘Redeem the time” (20th). ‘Be strong in the 
Lord”—recognize your enemies. ‘Put on the whole 
armor of God”’—‘“Stand!” (21st). ‘He Who hath 
begun a good work in you will perform it until the 
day of Jesus Christ.” “Let your love abound more 
and more” (22nd). “Our citizenship is in heaven”’ 
(23d). Thus week on week the Way is taught; the 
enemies and hindrances revealed; the aid, protec- 
tion and encouragement granted; and the assurance 
of the Homeland and our place therein given! If 
one but walk, be faithful, and abide in Him Who 
helps! Is there reason now for outburst of confi- 
dence?—but this is without all that is brought us 
today! 

To this all is added, blessing upon blessing: 
“Who hath made us meet to be partakers of the 
inheritance of the saints in light (Citizenship is in 
heaven)—Who hath delivered us from the power 
of darkness (remember the enemies!)—and hath 
translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 
in Whom we have redemption through His Blood, 
even the forgiveness of sins’ (recall the close of 
last Sunday’s Epistle). But this is only to His 
people; so it is vital that the exhortation “to walk 
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, to be fruitful 
in every good work (note here the Collect) and to 
increase in the knowledge of God,” be constant in 
its inspiration, even to the confident heart. 

Think too, of this Epistle as the Church’s prayer 
for her own who are passing through these days 
filled with the things which lure away and seek to 
destroy. Her confidence, her faith and then her 
testimony; but because she knows the glory to be 
revealed to those who are faithful, she prays that 
we may not lose through any lack in faithful en- 
deavor, through any weakness—which, if we but 
give ourselves, He will strengthen—through any 


258 THE CHURCH YEAR 


temptation or trial—which He will armor us 
against—fail at the end, when it is already in the 
grasp. “Our citizenship is in heaven.” He hath 
delivered us, hath translated us; we have redemp- 
tion. “Blessed” indeed is the man “who walketh 
worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing’; “who 
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly ;—whose 
delight is in the law of the Lord” (Gradual). 

The Gospel with its double manifestation of 
Divine power, its double ministry out of the very 
Heart of Comfort, its two answers—are they not 
one?—to seeking, hungering, acknowledging faith, 
seals the promise of the blessed message of the 
Epistle. “He is our God!” How shall these things 
be?—all this wonderful promise, which the holy 
Apostle and the Church so confidently assert? Be- 
hold, how faith receives His reply: behold, in Him 
the Saviour. The miseries of life, yea, death itself, 
vanish before Him, at His command. Where He is 
no ill can come; and we look for Him, to be with 
Him. “I am persuaded that neither death (!) nor 
life (!)—shall be able to separate us from the love 
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 


Confidence supreme, but still the consummation 
may be delayed; the waiting may be long; life with 
its searing touches, try, tempt, deaden; the enthusi- 
asm of the glorious consummation, the inspiration 
of the assurance, wane; therefore, Stir up, literally 
the Latin prays, excite, enthuse (!) the wills: there 
is the positive element, determination to persevere. 
So the little prayer seeks the preservation, the con- 
stant nourishment of the “earnest expectation” 
which should voice itself daily in the thanksgiving 
of the redeemed, which the Apostle gives us in the 
Epistle: O give thanks unto the Father, Who hath 
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of 
the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the 


TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 259 


power of darkness, and hath translated us into the 
kingdom of His dear Son, in Whom we have re- 
demption through His Blood, even the forgiveness 


of sins. 
SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 95: 6, 7a, b 
Psalm, Psalm 95:1 
Collect: Excita, quaesumus, Domine, tuorum fidelium vol- 
untates; ut divini operis fructum propensius exsequentes, 
pietatis tuae remedia majora percipiant. Per Dominum. 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 1:1, 2; Psalm 91: 15, 16 


THE TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY 
AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble: 
deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them 
that persecute me. 

Let me not be ashamed, O Lord: for I have called upon 


Thee. 

Psalm: In Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never 
be ashamed. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Almighty God, we beseech Thee, show Thy mercy 
unto Thy humble servants, that we who put no trust in our 
own merits may not be dealt with after the severity of Thy 
judgment, but according to Thy mercy; through 0s 


Epistle: 1 Thess. 4: 18-18 Gospel: Matt. 24: 15-28 


The early Church lived in constant expectation 
of her Lord’s return. Exhortation after exhorta- 
tion in St. Paul’s Epistles reach their climax in an 
announcement of His imminent Coming-again, and 
a fervent hope for it. As the consummation, not 
only of “all things,” but particularly of the Chris- 
tian’s life in this age, his warfare against world, 
and flesh, and evil one: this was the goal of their 
expectation, of their living. Our Epistle today has 
an expressive little phrase, “and so shall we ever 
be with the Lord,” which in its brevity is eloquent 
of all which the believer’s faith and hope meant to 
him. 

Here in these last days of the Church Year, after 
the exhortations and promises which these last few 
Sundays have brought, we enter the final group 
of the Last Things, as the culmination of the defi- 
nite and orderly teaching of our Church, but also 

260 


TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 261 


as the completion of the believer’s life and the end 
which the unbeliever too must face. First of these 
Final Things is the Second Coming of our Lord. 
Next Sunday’s Lessons will tell of the Final Judg- 
ment. The last Sunday holds an unique place in 
that it pictures all this parabolically, but even to 
the end continues to warn, to exhort to watch and 
be ready. 

Both Epistle and Gospel today tell of our Lord’s 
coming-again. The one definitely, the other, may 
we say?—pictorially: for the doom of Jerusalem 
and her terrible visitation and judgment, the 
Church has always considered a type of the Final 
Things. Herein, when this prophecy of the Abomi- 
nation of Desolation and the warning against “false 
Christs” (let us not forget WHO spake the words 
of this Gospel!) —are received in this typic manner, 
are not only lessons stern and terrible, but anxious 
care and loving anxiety that the believer continue 
steadfast even unto the end, unswerving in his 
allegiance: in all, through all, clinging to that one 
great hope in his only Lord, Master and Saviour. 


Such trying, tempting things, one feels, seem to 
underlie the Epistle, as if some had their doubts, 
their fears; as if some were hesitating in their 
“eontinuing”: not only the “delay,” but “‘those who 
have already passed away”; there is this life with 
its constant mockery of the Christian’s faith and 
hope. 

With words, which only the Divine Spirit could 
pour into a loving, believing heart, St. Paul pours 
out this precious comfort-bringing, peace-filled 
faith-song of the Blessedness with which the Glori- 
ous Lord crowns His own, be they ‘‘asleep”’ or “‘alive 
and remaining” at His Coming. What a sharp con- 
trast between the Epistle and Gospel today: The 
Epistle filled with comfort and peace and glory for 


262 THE CHURCH YEAR 


His own; the Gospel a message of dread and terror 
and doom for His enemies. 

Introit and Gradual are the expression of the 
Church’s, the believer’s, steadfast confidence: “In 
Thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be 
ashamed.” “I will say of the Lord, He is my 
Refuge and my Fortress: my God, in Him will I 
trust.” Over against the “false Christs,” ‘His 
truth shall be thy shield and buckler’’; over against 
the terrors of the end, “He that dwelleth in the 
secret place of the Most High, shall abide under 
the shadow of the Almighty.” And therefore, too, 
she humbly prays, for it is only of His mercy and 
through our Lord’s merit, that we may hope to 
pass through to the glories of the Life-to-come, 
“Show thy mercy unto Thy humble servants, that 
we who put no trust in our own merits, may not 
be dealt with after the severity of Thy judgment, 
but according to Thy mercy. We put no trust in 
our own merits—“In Thee, O Lord, do I put my 
trust’”—“my God, my Refuge, my Fortress—in 
Him will I trust!” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Psalm 31: 9a, 15b, 17 
Psalm, Psalm 31:1 
Collect: Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, misericordiam tuam 
ostende supplicibus; ut qui demeritorum qualitate diffidimus, 
non judicium tuum, sed indulgentiam sentiamus. Per 
Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: Psalm 91:2; Psalm 91:4; Psalm 91:1 


THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 


Introit: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
ending: which is, and which was, and which is to come, the 
Almighty. 

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will 
dwell with them: and they shall be His people, and God 
Himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

Psalm: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted 
up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of Glory shall come in. 

The Gloria. 


Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people 
from their offences; that from the bonds of our sins which, 
by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may 
be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through i 


Epistle: 1 Thess. 5: 1-11 Gospel: Matt. 25: 1-13 


The Last Sunday after Trinity occupies a place 
all its own. It is the climax of the Season. In its 
teaching, a number of elements are combined: all 
most solemn in tone; but one stands out over all 
others. 

The Introit today is purposefully three part: for 
each verse brings a note distinctly needed this Day. 
It first sings of Him Who is the Alpha and Omega, 
emphasizing His E'verlastingness, not only because 
The Church Year is ending, but because a sense of 
the passing of all time must come home to the 
Church today, the time that ends in Eternity, that 
ends with the Coming of Him “which is to come, the 
Almighty”—‘“the Day of the Lord” of the Epistle. 

But His coming is to bring peace to His people, 
not fear or dread: His people, therefore the joy and 
blessedness voiced in the second part: His taber- 
nacle is with men, and He will dwell with them, His 
people, their God. In passing note, previous Days 

263 


264 THE CHURCH YEAR 


exhorted to, taught of, dwelling with and abiding 
in Him; culmination teaches, “He will dwell with 
them!” 


Then the glorious outburst of glad preparation 
and triumphant welcome! What glory in the 
Church’s song, the Church Militant, soon to be the 
Church Triumphant: “Lift up your heads, O ye 
gates ...and the King of Glory shall come in”! 

Outstanding today is the warning ‘‘Watch!” Be 
ready! ‘For ye know neither the day nor the hour 
wherein the Son of Man cometh’?! The suddenness, 
unexpectedness, of the Coming, of the “Day of the 
Lord,” is likened in the Epistle, to the coming of a 
thief in the night; and against the feeling of secur- 
ity, indifference, forgetfulness, “Peace and safety,” 
“sleep,” “children of darkness,” the Epistle’s ex- 
hortation first recalls what the believer knows, then 
reminds him of what he is, and then urges him “to 
watch and be sober.” How frequently this has 
fallen on our ears this year, now again to be the 
last message of the year! To “children of light”— 
“T am the light of the world’—to “children of the 
day”—‘“The Dayspring from on high hath visited 
us’—“The Day of the Lord’! And note the pre- 
paredness of the believer, ‘‘armor,”’ but not of of- 
fence, but of readiness, “Be sober, putting on the 
breastplate of facth and love; and for an helmet the 
hope of salvation.” Then something sweetly peace- 
ful reaches the heart, that dispells the awe-full-ness 
of the thought of this Last Day: “For God hath 
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation 
by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that 
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together 
with Him’—wake—or—sleep—live—together with 
Him—‘‘Wherefore comfort yourselves” ! 


What a wonderful choice the Church has made 
for the Gospel! How pointedly, dramatically, our 


THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY 265 


Lord’s Parable of Warning pictures readiness vs. 
unreadiness, preparedness vs. unpreparedness, 
watchfulness vs. “sleep.” The Ten Virgins, all 
seemingly of the Company-to-be: all to go to the 
Wedding: all to meet the Bridegroom; and yet, “‘five 
of them were wise, five were foolish.” He comes, 
“and they that were ready went in with Him to 
the Marriage; AND THE DOOR WAS SHUT”! 
Here the Gospel adds a new note, finality. The Door 
is not opened again; He may speak, and His voice 
carry through the Door; but it remains shut! 

‘“Afterward’—there is an afterward !—‘Lord, 
open to us’—“I know you not.” He says—the 
Church warns,—Too late! “Children of the night’! 
—‘darkness’”—without. 

Can we not feel, all through these anxious warn- 
ings and lessons which the Church brings today, 
how terribly earnest she is in her desire to bring 
home to every heart the wonder of the one, great, 
last, opportunity? And, oh, if she only can sound 
the alarm which will waken never failing watchful- 
ness! 

To all, in His Name, she calls, at this last, “Let 
him that is athirst come!” 


SOURCES 


Introit: Antiphon, Revelation 22:13; 21:3 
Psalm, Psalm 24: 7 


Collect: Absolve, quaesumus, Domine, tuorum delicta popu- 
lorum; ut a peccatorum nostrorum nexibus quae pro nostra 
fragilitate contraximus, tua benignitate liberemur. Per 
Dominum. 

Gelasian Sacramentary. 


Gradual: John 8:12c; Revelation 22:17; Revelation 
22: 20c 





 Sesus 
Christ 
Che Dame 
Bester: 
dap, Co- 
dap, and 
Forever 


Amen 


























a) Oe het en PLES ti 





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